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LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA 


AS 


REPRESENTED IN THE FINE ARTS 


BY 


MRS. JAMESON 


Corrected and Enlarged Edition 








BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
Che Bibversive Press, Cambridge 
1898 


CONTENTS. 


donna. FEurliest artistic Representations. Ori- 
gin of the Group of the Virgin and Child in the 
Fifth Century. The First Council at Ephesus. 
The Iconoclasts. First Appearance of the Effigy 
of the Virgin on Coins. Period of Charlemagne. 
Period of the Crusades. Revival of Art in the 
Thirteenth Century. The Fourteenth Century. 
Influence of Dante. The Fifteenth Century. The 
Council of Constance and the Hussite Wars. The 
Sixteenth Century. The Luxury of Church Pic- 
tures. The Influence of Classical Literature on 
the Representations of the Virgin. The Seven- 
teenth Century. Theological Art. Spanish Art. 
Influence of Jesuitism on Art. Authorities fol- 
lowed by Painters in the earliest Times. Legend 
of St. Luke. Character of the Virgin Mary as 
drawn in the Gospels. Early Descriptions of her 
Person; how far attended to by the Painters. 
Poetical Extracts descriptive of the Virgin Mary 


_Bymeoxs AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE VIRGIN. Prop- 


er Costume and Colours, ..........cccscccees : 


DEVOTIONAL SUBJECTS AND HISTORICAL SUBJECTS. 


Altar-pieces The Life of the Virgin Mary as 


PREFAC®,..... eS eeveveseeeeeeeoeese neve @seeeeveee oe xvi 
IwrropucrFon. — Origin of the Worship of the Ma- 


18 


5a 


Iv CONTENTS. 


Page 


treated in a Series. The Seven Joys anc Seven 
Sorrows as a Series. Titles of the Virgin as ex- 
pressed in Pictures and Effigies. Churches dedi- 
cated to her. Conclusion.......... ec eeesk ten ae 


BUPPLEMENTARY NOTES ........ccescececsvess .. 8 


DEVOTIONAL SUBJECTS. 
Part I. 
THE VIRGIN WITHOUT THE CHILD. 


La VERGINE GLoriosA. Earliest Figures. The Mo- 
saics. The Virgin of San Venanzio. The Virgin 


Of Spoleto .:\.4 dasa ce eae Meniels ostaele eee 9% 
The Enthroned Virgin without the Child, as type of 
heavenly Wisdom. Various Examples......... 101 


L’ IncoronaTa, the Type of the Church triumphant. 
The Virgin crowned by her Son. Examples from 
the old Mosaics. Examples of the Coronation of 


the Virgin from various Painters ............ .. 106 
The ViucGiIn oF MERCY, as she is represented in the 

Last Judgment... .0..5..+2095 ssn seen eee 123 
The Virgin, as Dispenser of Mercy on Earth. Various 

Examples vos vses00.c<ssscccesss as SRG 126 
The Mater Dotorosa seated and standing, with the 

Seven Swords... ss. sws5 5595 90.0 9 eee ee 1381 
(he Stabat Mater, the Ideal Piet’. The Votive Pie- 

tah, by Guido. 2.2 cee escecs0 es 00 suse 133 


Our Lapy oF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Or- 
igin of the Subject. History of the Theological 
Dispute. The First Papal Decree touching the 
Immaculate Conception. The Bull of Paul V. 


CONTENTS. v 


The Popalarity of the Subject in Spam. Pic- 
tures by Guido, by Roelas, Velasquez, Mu- 


rillo . Blade dusilsisavacdacovs due ssiiddoepevee 13” 
‘he Priestination of the Virgin. Curious Picture by 
ATUNIIR Grid's cis o'b'ss slais cols s'es.oe aise vocseees 15] 
Part I. 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. 


fk VIRGIN AND CHILD ENTHRONED. Virgo De- 
spara. The Virgin in her Maternal Character. 
Origin of the Group of the Mother and Child. 
Nestorian Controversy.........sscccccsccvcees 155 

The Enthroned Virgin in the old Mosaics. In early 
Italian Art. The Virgin standing as Regina 


PES Nik wainy crc asceectbcys wane tes 161 
Ca aiadee Pia enthroned. Mater Sapientie with 
MUROOMIOETUUCT Vere ces hascactreeed sasbacess 170 


The Virgin and Child enthroned with attendant Fig- 
ures; with Angels; with Prophets; with Apos- 


lags Cries <0 fais oss nia baspwces cco 176 
With Saints: John the Baptist; St. Anna; St. Joa- 

PT SOROD se tas, sass cacceetass¢heeesess 181 
With Martyrs and Patron Saints..............0066 187 


Various Examples of Arrangement. With the Fa- 
thers of the Church; with St. Jerome and St. 
Catherine; with the Marriage of St. Catherine. 
The Virgin and Child between St. Catherine and 
St. Barbara; with Mary Magdalene; with St. 


The Virgin and Child between St. George and St. 
Nicholas; with St. Christopher; with St. Leon- 
ard. The Virgin of Charity....,......... ss. 199 


v1 CONTENTS. 


The Madonnas of Florence; of Siena; of Venice and 


Lombardy. How attended............ gueccses 200 
The Virgin attended by the Monastic Saints. “xam- 
ples from various Painters .......65 sseceerees 201 


Yotive Madonnas. For Mercies acooedaal for Vic- 
tory; for Deliverance from Pestilence; against 
» Flood and Fire............cesssencescsevesece 206 
Family Votive Madonnas. Examples. The Madonna 
of the Bentivoglio Family. The Madonna of the 
Sforza Family. The Madonna of the Meyer Fam- 
ily. The Madonna di Foligno. German Votive 
Madonna at Rouen. Madonna of Réné, Duke of 
Anjou; of the Pesaro Family at Venice......... 218 
Half-length Enthroned Madonnas; first introduced 
by the Venetians. Various Examples.......... 225 
The Marer Amasiuis. Early Greek Examples. 
The infinite Variety given to this Subject...... 229 
Virgin and Child with St. John. He takes the Cross 234 
The MApRE P14; the Virgin adores her Son........ 236 
Pastoral Madonnas of the Venetian School.......... 288 
Conclusion of the Devotional Subjects............-. 244 


HISTORICAL SUBJECTS. 


Part I. 


THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN FROM HER BIRTS 
TO HER MARRIAGE WITH JOSEPH. 


THE LEGEND OF JOACHIM AND ANNA.......00000- 246 
Joacnim rejected from the Temvle. Joachim herding 
his Sheep on the Mountain. The Altercation 
between Anna and her Maid Judith. The Meet- 
ing at the Golder Gate........ obs Sey Seueee fae 259 


CONTENTS. vis 


Page 
THe NATIVITY OF THE VirGIN. The Importance 
and Beauty of the Subject. How treated........ 258 


Tue PRESENTATION OF THE VirnGiIN. A Subject of 
great Importance. General Arrangement and 
Treatment. Various Examples from celebrated 


BERMIORE MAN ars cise’ ob/> Vibceisicin'a'h do Wilds. aitediclivele be 261 
The Virgin in the Temple.............c.ecceeeees 266 
THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. The Legend as 

followed by the Painters .........cccscccsscces 269 
Various Examples of the Marriage of the Virgin, as 

treated by Perugino, Raphael, and others....... 274 

Part Ii. 


THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN MARY FROM THE 
ANNUNCIATION TO THE RETURN FROM 
EGYPT. 


THE ANNUNCIATION. Its Beauty as a Subject. 
Treated as a Mystery and as an Event. As a 
Mystery; not earlier than the Eleventh Century. 
Its proper Place in architectural Decoration. On 
Altar-pieces. As an Allegory. The Annuncia- 
tion as expressing the Incarnation. Ideally 
treated with Saints and Votaries. Examples 
by Simone Memmi, Fra Bartolomeo, Angelico, 


The Annunciation as an Event. The appropriate 
Circumstances. The Time, the Locality, the Ac- 
cessories. The Descent of the Angel; proper Cos- 
tume; with the Lily, the Palm, the Olive....... 291 

Proper Attitude and Occupation of Mary; Expression 
and Deportment. The Dove. Mistakes. Ex- 
amples from various Painters.......... covccce SON 


Viil CONTENTS. 


Page 
THE VisrtrATion. Character of Elizabeth. The Lo- 


cality and Circumstances. Proper Accessories. 
Examples from various Painters 


THE DREAM OF JOSEPH. He entreats Forgiveness of - 
MALY. oie aie oe ts Subd hiv's Oe Jules Oe ----. Sl 

Tue Nativiry. The Prophecy of the Sibyl. La 
Madonna del Parto. The Nativity as a Mystery; 
with poetical Accessories; with Saints and Vota- 


The Nativity as an Event. The Time; the Place: 
the proper Accessories and Circumstances; the 
angelic Choristers; Signification of the Ox and 
the “ABS 0s a.50ospanaernd 050 Caen cscccce O28 
THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS.......++ cove 329 


THE ADORATION OF THE MAGt; they are supposed 
to have been Kings. Prophecy of Balaam. The 
Appearance of the Star. The Legend of the three 
Kings of Cologne. Proper Accessories. Exam- 
ples from various Painters. The Land Surveyors, 
by -Giorgione.. .i6:. -os00's octane ncn sales eee 331 
THE PURIFICATION OF THE VIRGIN. The Prophecy 
of Simeon. Greek Legend of the Nunc Dimittis. 
Various Examples. .. .i'sicc.ssccdsvecces ban eae teen 
YHE FuicHT nro Ecyprt. The Massacre of the In- 
nocents. The Preparation for the Journey. The 
Circumstances. The Legend of the Robbers; of 
the Palma ses vice ns s0h sepa 854 
THE REPOSE OF THE Hoty Famity. The Sub- 
ject often mistaken. Proper Treatment of the 
Group. The Repose at Matarea. The Ministry 
Of AGOIS: «ce nas ooh Pane ae o<esep eae eoeeee 364 
THE LEGEND OF THE GYPSY.......000. seve coos 300 


THe RETURN FROM EGYPT.....0...00 cose cneee OO 


CONTENTS ix 


Part II. 


FHE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN FROM THE SOJOURN 
IN EGYPT TO THE CRUCIFIXION OF OUR 
LORD. 


Tae Hoxry Famity. Proper Treatment of the Do- 
mestic Group as distinguished from the Devotion- 
al. The simplest Form that of the Mother and 
Child. The Child fed from his Mother’s Bosom. 


PRENSA BICODE, ay ins 'c a's avs Kinny Os 60 4. e eevee 377 
Holy Family of three Figures; with the little St. 
John; with St. Joseph; with St. Anna......... 387 
Holy Family of four Figures; with St. Elizabeth and 
IMC GCG ra vies ce Gr sccaccceccacteeveseues 392 
The Holy Family of Five and Bie Biguress 70. 23 e's 393 
The Family of the Virgin grouped together......... 393 
Examples of Holy Family as treated by various Ar- 
DEERE OCS Cr spad swase uel seuss sys tess sss 396 
The Carpenter’s Shop ........sesseees Cie web Beto Bete 401 
The Infant Christ learning to read.............00.. 405 
THE DIsPUTE IN THE TEMPLE. The Virgin seeks 
Ee ree BAP RAGE eS eee 406 
HATH. OF JOSEPH: oo oj. nisc's anbcccengncsccece 410 


THE MARRIAGE ATCANA. Proper Treatment of the 
Virgin in this Subject; as treated by Luini and 


by Paul Veronese...... asses eees Prereerr cr 413 
The Virgin attends on the Ministry of Christ. Mys- 
tical Treatment by Fra Angelico........se...-. 417 


Lo Spastmo. Christ takes leave of his Mother. 
Women who are introduced into Scenes of the 
PINTS GUE. LOTUs cased ce wale eee ce 63.65 wake 420 


The Procession to Calvary Lo Spasimo di Sicilia... 429 


x CONTENTS. 


(HE Crvucirixion. Proper Treatment of the Virgin 
in this Subject. The impropriety of placing her 
upon the Ground. Her Fortitude. Christ rec- 


ommends his Mother to St. John............... 426 
THE DESCENT FROM THE Cross. Proper Place and 
Action of the Virgin in this Subject............ 430 


Tue Deposition. Proper Treatment of this Form of 
the Mater Dolorosa. Persons introduced. Vari- 
ous Examples. oso sc Uc eek ose beb ee tween 283 


Tur ENToMBMENT. Treated as an historical Scene. 
As one of the Sorrows of the Rosary; attended 


by Sainta;. . acs .ccvsecedevase see eeeeeeeen «-- 485 
The Mater Dolorosa attended by St. Peter. Attended 
by St. John and Mary Magdalene..... és atone 438 
Part IV. 


THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN MARY FROM THE 
RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD TO THE A&s- 
SUMPTION. 


(THE APPARITION OF CHRIST TO HIS MOTHER. 
Beauty and Sentiment of the old Legend; bots 


represented by the Artists. .......csssccccccses 444 
THE ASCENSION OF OUR LorD. The proper Place of 

the Virgin Marys. 0.23. o. accen sab ewee cee eee 448 
[ne Descent or THE Hoty Guost; Mary being 

one of the principal Persons............+sseee- 44€ 
THE APOSTLES TAKE LEAVE OF THE VIRGIN....... 4419 
Tne DEATH AND ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN. The 

old Greek Legend. ........0-scepas SRPMS 450 


The Angel announces to oo her approaching 
Death see Ou. Pe. Se cove 406 


CONTENTS. xX] 


Page 
The Death of the Virgin, an ancient and important 
Subject. As treated in the Greek School; in ear- 
ly German Art; in Italian Art. Various Exam- 


Be Pec ike s ss Pec tts fe dda anen cue whee aes 451 
The Apostles carry the Body of the Virgin to the 

REM iieivenscecee ide edaaae foes slanted wer sieht 464 
DRMMOLOMLDINENG. 065s sc cccs swe cccccesccusacsees 465 


Tar AssuMPTION. Distinction between the Assump- 
tion of the Body and the Assumption of the Soul 
of the Virgin. The Assumption asa Mystery; 


LA MADONNA DELLA CinToLA. The Legend of the 
Girdle; as painted in the Cathedral at Prato.... 469 


Examples of the Assumption as represented by vari- 


THE CoronaTION as distinguished from the Jncoro- 
nata ; how treated as an historical Subject. Con- 
EMMUOU falll ¥ oe te vie o OBOE OO CEE IAG era we 489 












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:" : ‘ ‘\ - 3 Meiyiprs-» 
; bo tramenian aa nirmiane aah Fa 
; é 2 a tala My 

: d ' toe OAsal teen? aa Oe RA 
{ Caratih Che Gi Behe he 


‘* 





NOTE. 


TE decease of Mrs. Jameson, the accomplished womsa 
and popular writer, at an advanced period of life, too 
place in March, 1860, after a brief illness. But the frame 
had long been worn out by past years of anxiety, and the 
fatigues of laborious literary occupation conscientiously un- 
dertaken and carried out. Having entered certain fields 
of research and enterprise, perhaps at first accidentally, 
Mrs. Jameson could not satisfy herself by anything less 
than the utmost that minute collection and progressive 
study could do to sustain her popularity. Distant and 
exhausting journeys, diligent examination of far-scattered 
examples of Art, voluminous and various reading, became 
seemingly more and more necessary to her; and at the 
very time of life when rest and slackened effort would 
have been natural, —not merely because her labours were 
in aid of others, but to satisfy her own high sense of what 
is demanded by Art and Literature, —did her hand and 
brain work more and more perseveringly and thoughtfully, 
till at last she sank under her weariness; and passed 
away. 

The father of Miss Murphy was a miniature-painter of 
repute, attached, we believe, te the household of the Prin- 
cess Charlotte. His daughter Anna was naturally taught 
by him the principles of his own art; but she had instincts 
for all,—-taste for music,—a feeling for poetry,—and a 
delicate appreciation of the drama. These gifts—in her 
youth rarer in combination than thev are now (when the 
ronnection of the arts is becoming understood, and the 


2 


Xiv NOE. 


love of all increasingly diffused) — were, curing part of 
Mrs. Jameson’s life, turned to the service of education.— 
It was not till after her marriage, that a foreign tour led 
her into authorship, by the publication of “ The Diary of 
en Ennuyée,’”’ somewhere about the year 1826.—It was 
impossible to avoid detecting in that record the presence 
of taste, thought, and feeling, brought in an original fash- 
ion to bear on Art, Society, Morals.— The reception of the 
book was decisive.— It was followed, at intervals, by “‘ The 
Loves of the Poets,’’ “‘ Memoirs of Italian Painters,” “‘ The 
Lives of Female Sovereigns,”’ ‘‘ Characteristics of Women” 
(a series of Shakspeare studies; possibly its writer’s most 
popular book). After this, the Germanism so prevalent 
five-and-twenty years ago, and now somewhat gone by, 
possessed itself of the authoress, and she published her 
reminiscences of Munich, the imitative art of which was 
new, and esteemed as almost a revelation. To the list 
of Mrs. Jameson’s books may be added her translation 
of the easy, if not vigorous Dramas by the Princess 
Amelia of Saxony, and her “ Winter Studies and Sum- 
mer Rambles ’’ — recollections of a visit to Canada. This 
included the account of her strange and solitary canoe 
voyage, and her residence among a tribe of Indians. 
From this time forward, social questions — especially those 
concerning the position of women in life.and action —en- 
grossed a large share of Mrs. Jameson's attention ; and 
she wrote on them occasionally, always in a large and en- 
lightened spirit, rarely without touches of delicacy and 
sentiment. — Even when we are unable to acceyt all Mrs. 
Jameson’s conclusions, or to join her in the hero or hero- 
ine worship of this or the other favourite example, we 
nave seldom a complaint to make of the manner of the 
authoress. It was always earnest, eloquent, and poet- 
ical. 

Besides a volume or two of collected essays, thoughts, 
notes on books, and on subjects of Art, we have left te 
meniion the elaborate volumes on “‘ Sacred and Legendary 


NOTE. XV 


Art,” as the greatest literary labour of a busy life. Mrs 
Jameson was putting the last finish to the concluding por- 
tion of her work, when she was bidden to cease forever. 
There is little more to be told, —save that, in thé course 
of her indefatigable literary career, Mrs. Jameson drew 
round herself a large circle of steady friends — these among 
the highest illustrators of Literature and Art in France, 
Germany, and Italy; and that, latterly, a pension from 
Government was added to her slender earnings. These, it 
may be said without indelicacy, were liberally apportioned 
to the aid of others,— Mrs. Jameson being, for herselt, 
simple, self-relying, and self-denying ; — holding that high 
view of the duties belonging to pursuits of imagination 
which rendered meanness, or servility, or dishonourable 
dealing, or license glossed over with some convenient 
name, impossible to her.—She was a faithful friend, a 
devoted relative, a gracefully-cultivated, and honest liter- 
ary worker, whose mind was set on “the best and hon- 


ourablest things.” 


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AUTHOR’S PREFACE 


TO THE FIRST EDITION. 





In presenting to my friends and to the public this Series of 
the Sacred and Legendary Art, few preparatory words will be 
required. 

If in the former volumes I felt diffident of my own powers to 
do any justice to my subject, I have yet been encouraged by. the 
sympathy and approbation of those who have kindly accepted 
of what has been done, and yet more kindly excused deficiencies, 
errors, and oversights, which the wide range of subjects rendered 
almost unavoidable. 

With far more of doubt and diffidence, yet not less trust in the 
benevolence and candour of my critics, do I present this volume 
to the public. I hope it will be distinctly understood, that the 
general plan of the work is merely artistic; that it really aims 
at nothing more than to render the various subjects intelligible. 
For this reason it has been thought advisable to set aside, in a 
great measure, individual preferences, and all predilections for 
particular schools and particular periods of Art,—to take, in 
short, the widest possible range as regards examples, —and then 
to leave the reader, when thus guided to the meaning of what he 
sees, to select, compare, admire, according to his own discrimina- 
tion, taste, and requirements. The great difficulty has been to 
keep within reasonable limits. Though the subject has a unity 
not found in the other volumes, it is really boundless as regards 
variety and complexity. I may have been superficial from mere 
superabundance of materials; sometimes mistaken as to facts 
and dates; the tastes, the feelings, and the faith of my readera 
may not always go along with me; but if attention and interes? 


K Vill PREFACE. 


nave been excited —if the sphere of enjoyment in works of Art 
have been enlarged and enlightened, I have done all I eyez 
wished —all I ever hoped, to do. 

With regard to a point of infinitely greater importance, I may 
be allowed to plead, —that it has been impossible to treat of the 
representations of the Blessed Virgin without touching on doc- 
trines such as constitute the principal differences between the 
creeds of Christendom. I have had to ascend most perilous 
heights, to dive into terribly obscure depths. Not for worlds 
would I be guilty of a scoffing allusion to any belief or any ob- 
ject held sacred by sincere and earnest hearts; but neither has 
it been possible for me to write in a tone of acquiescence, where 
I altogether differ in feeling and opinion. On this point I shall 
need, and feel sure that I shall obtain, the generous construc 
tion of readers of all persuasions 


INTRODUCTION. 


§. ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE EFFIGIES OF 
THE MADONNA. 


‘rHROUGH all the most beautiful and precious pro- 
ductions of human genius and human skill which the 
middle ages and the renaissance have bequeathed 
to us, we trace, more or less developed, more or 
less apparent, present in shape before us, or sug- 
vested through inevitable associations, one prevail- 
ing idea: it is that of an impersonation in the fem- 
‘nine character of beneficence, purity, and power, 
standing between an offended Deity and poor, sin- 
ning, suffering humanity, and clothed in the visible 
form of Mary, the Mother of our Lord. 

To the Roman Catholics this idea remains an 
indisputable religious truth of the highest import. 
Those of a different creed may think fit to dispose 
of the whole subject of the Madonna either as a 
form of superstition or a form of Art. But merely 
as a form of Art, we cannot in these days confine 
ourselves to empty conventional criticism. We are 
obliged to look further and deeper; and in this de- 
partment of Legendary Art, as in the others, we 
must take the higher ground, perilous though it be. 
We must seek to comprehend the dominant idea 
lying behind and beyond the mere representation 
For, after all, some consideration is due to facts 

hich we must necessarily accep%, whether we dea’ 


b0 INTRODUCTION. 


with antiquarian theology or artistic criticism; 
namely, that the worship of the Madonna did pre- 
vail through all the Christian and civilized world 
for nearly a thousand years; that, in spite of errors, 
exaggerations, abuses, this worship did comprehend 
certain great elemental truths interwoven with our 
human nature, and to be evolved perhaps with our 
future destinies. ‘Therefore did it work itself into 
the life and soul of man; therefore has it been 
worked out in the manifestations of his genius; and 
therefore the multiform imagery in which it has 
been clothed, from the rudest imitations of life, te 
the most exquisite creations of mind, may be re 
solved, as a whole, into one subject, and becomey 
one great monument in the history of progressive 
thought and faith, as well as in the history of pro- 
gressive art. 

Of the pictures in our galleries, public or pn- 
vate, —of the architectural adornments of thosn 
majestic edifices which sprung up in the middle 
ages (where they have not been despoiled or dese- 
crated by a zeal as fervent as that which reared 
them), the largest and most beautiful portion have 
reference to the Madonna,— her character. her 
person, her history. It was a theme which never 
tired her votaries,— whether, as in the hands ot 
great and sincere artists, it became one of th. 
noblest and loveliest, or, as in the hands of super- 
ficial, unbelieving, time-serving artists. one of the 
most degraded. All that human genius, Inspired 
by faith, could achieve of best, all that fanaticism, 
sensualism, atheism, could perpetrate of worst, de 
we find in the cycle of those representations which 
have been dedicated to the glory of the Virgin. 
And indeed the ethics of the Madonna worship, as 
evolved in art, might be not unaptly likened to the 
ethics of human love: so long as the object of 
sense remained in subjection to the moral idea-~ 
30 long as the appeal was to the best of our facul 


INTRODUCTION. 21 


lies anc affections—so long was the image grana 
or refined, and the influences to be ranked with 
those which have helped to humanize and civilize 
our race; but so soon as the object became a mere 
idol, then worship and worshippers, art and artists, 
were together degraded. 

It is not my intention to enter here on that dis- 

uted point, the origin of the worship of the Ma- 
onna. Our present theme lies within prescribed 
imits, — wide enough, however, to embrace an im- 
mense field of thought: it seeks to trace the pro- 
gressive influence of that worship on the fine arte 
for a thousand years or more, and to interpret the 
forms in which it has been clothed. That the ven- 
eration paid to Mary in the early Church was 3 
very natural feeling in those who advocated the 
divinity of her Son, would be granted, I suppose, 
by all but the most bigoted reformers; that it led 
to unwise and wild extremes, confounding the 
creature with the Creator, would be admitted, I 
_ suppose, by all but the most bigoted Roman Catho- 
lics. How it extended from the East over the na- 
tions of the West, how it grew and spread, may 
be read in ecclesiastical histories. Everywhere it 
seems to have found in the human heart some 
deep sympathy — deeper far than mere theological 
doctrire could reach — ready to accept it; and in 
every land the ground prepared for it in some 
already dominant idea of a mother-Goddess, chaste, 
beautiful,-and benign. As, in the oldest Hebrew 
ites and Pagan superstitions, men traced the prom- : 
se of a coming Messiah, — as the deliverers and 
Kings of the Old Testament, and even the demi- 
gods of heathendom, became accepted types of the 
person of Christ, — so the Eve of the Mosaic his 
tory, the Astarte of the Assyrians — 


‘The mooned Ashtaroth, queen and mother both,’ — 


the Isis nursing Horus of the Kgyptians, the Demo 


22 INTKUDUCTION. 


ter and the Aphrodite of the Greeks, the Scythian 
Freya, have been considered by some writers as 
types of a divine maternity, foreshadowing the Vir- 
gin-mother of Christ. Others will have “ that 
these scattered, dim, mistaken — often gross and 

erverted — ideas which were afterwards gathered 
into the pure, dignified, tender image of the Ma 
donna, were but as the voice of a mighty prophecy, 
sounded through all the generations of men, even 
from the beginning of time, of the coming moral 
regeneration, and complete and harmonious devel- 
opment of the whole human race, by the establish- 
ment, on a higher basis, of what has been called 
the “feminine element” in society. And let me 
at least speak for myself. In the perpetual itera- 
tion of that beautiful image of THE WOMAN highly 
blessed — there, where others saw only pictures or 
statues, I have seen this great hope standing like a 
spirit beside the visible form: in the fervent wor- 
ship once universally given to that gracious pres- 
ence, I have beheld an acknowledgment of a higher 
as well as gentler power than that of the strong 
hand and the might that makes the right, — and in 
every earnest votary one who, as he knelt, was in 
this sense pious beyond the reach of his own 
thought, and “ devout beyond the meaning of his 
will.” ; 

It is curious to observe, as the worship of the 
Virgin-mother expanded and gathered to itself the 
relics of many an ancient faith, how the new and 
the old elements, some of them apparently the most 
heterogeneous, became amalgamated, and were com- 
bined into the early forms of art;—- how the Ma- 
donna, when she assumed the characteristics of the 
great Diana of Ephesus, at once the type of Fertil- 
ity, and the Goddess of Chastity, became, as the 
wmpersonation of motherhood, all beauty, bounty 
and graciousness: and at the same time, by virtue 
of her perpetual virginity, the patroness of single 


INTRODUCTION. 23 


and ascetic life—the example and the excuse for - 
many of the wildest of the early monkish theories, 
With Christianity, new ideas of the moral and-re 
ligious responsibility of woman entered the world 

and while these ideas were yet struggling with the 
Hebrew and classical prejudices concerning the 
whole sex, they seem.to have produced some curi- 
ous perplexity in the minds of the greatest doctors 
of the faith. Christ, as they assure us, was born of 
a woman only, and had no earthly father, that nei- 
ther sex might despair; “for had he been born a 
man (which was necessary), yet not born of woman, 
the women might have despaired of themselves, 
recollecting the first offence, the first man having 
been deceived by a woman. Therefore we are to 
suppose that, for the exaltation of the male sex, 
Christ appeared on earth as a man; and, for the 
consolation of womankind, he was born of a woman 
only ; as if it had been said, ‘ From henceforth no 
creature shall be base before God, unless perverted 
by depravity.” (Augustine, Opera Supt. 238. 
Serm. 63.) Such is the reasoning of St. Augustine, 
who, I must observe, had an especial veneration for 
his mother Monica; and it is perhaps for her sake 
that he seems here desirous to prove that through 
the Virgin Mary all womankind were henceforth 
elevated in the scale of being. And this was the 
idea entertained of her subsequently: “ Ennobler 
of thy nature!” says Dante apostrophizing her, as 
if her perfections had ennobled not merely her own 
sex, but the whole human race.* 

But also with Christianity came the want of a 
new type of womanly perfection, combining all the 
attributes of the ancient female divinities with oth- 
ers altogether new. Christ, as the model-man, 
united the virtucs of the two sexes, till the idea tha’ 
there are essentially masculine and feminine vir 


*% 66 Ty se’ colei che 1’ umana natura Nobilitasti. ' 


24 INTROPUCTION. 


tues intruded itself on the higher Christian concep 
tion, and seems to have necessitated the female type 

The first historical mention of a direct worship 
paid to the Virgin Mary, occurs in a passage in the 
works of St. Epiphanius, who died in 403. In 
enumerating the heresies (eighty-four in number) 
which had sprung up in the early Church, he men- 
tions a sect of women, who had emigrated from 
Thrace into Arabia, with whom it was customary te 
offer cakes of meal and honey to the Virgin Mary, 
as if she had been a divinity, transferring to her, 
in fact, the worship paid to Ceres. The very first 
instance which occurs in written history of an invo- 
cation to Mary, is in the life of St. Justina, as re- 
lated by Gregory Nazianzen. Justina calls on the 
Virgin-mother to protect her against the seducer 
and sorcerer, Cyprian; and does not call in vain. 
(Sacred and Legendary Art.) These passages, 
however, do not prove that previously to the 
fourth century there had been no worship or 
invocation of the Virgin, but rather the contra- 
ry. However this may be, it is to the same pe- 
riod — the fourth century —we refer the most 
ancient representations of the Virgin in art. The 
earliest figures extant are those on the Christian 
sarcophagi; but neither in the early sculpture noi 
in the mosaics of St. Maria Maggiore do we find 
any figure of the Virgin standing alone; she 
forms part of a group of the Nativity or the Ado- 
ration of the Magi. There is no attempt at in- 
dividuality or portraiture. St. Augustine says 
expressly, that there existed in his time no au 
thentic portrait ot the Virgin; but it is inferred 
from his account that, authentic or not, such pic 
tures did then exist, since there were already dis 
putes concerning their authenticity. There were 
et this period received symbols of the person and 
character of Christ, as the lamb, the vine, the fish 
&e., but not, as far as I can learn, any such accept 


IN’ CRODUCTICON. Z§ 


ed symbols of the Virgin Mary. Further, it is the 
opinion of the learned in ecclesiastical antiquities 
that, previous to the first Council of Ephesus, it 
was the custom to represent the figure of the Vir- 
gin alone without the Child; but that none of these 
original effigies remain to us, only supposed copies 
of a later date.* And this is all I have been able 
to discover relative to her in connection with the 
sacred imagery of the first four centuries of our era. 


The condemnation of Nestorius by the Council 
of Ephesus, in the year 431, forms a most impor- 
tant epoch in the history of religious art. I have 
given further on a sketch of this celebrated schism, 
and its immediate and pregressive results. It may 
be thus summed up here. The Nestorians main. 
tained, that in Christ the two natures of God and 
man remained separate, and that Mary, his human 
mother, was parent of the man, but not of the God; 
consequently the title which, during the previous 
century, had been popularly applied to her, “ The- 
otokos” (Mother of God), was improper and pro- 
fane. The party opposed to Nestorius, the Monoph- 
ysite, maintained that in Christ the divine and hu- 
man were blended in one incarnate nature, and 
that consequently Mary was indeed the Mother of 
God. By the decree of the first Council of Ephesus, 
Nestorius and his party were condemned as here- 
tics; and henceforth the representation of that 
beautiful group, since popularly known as_ the 
“ Madonna and Child,” became the expression of 
the orthodox faith. Every one who wished to prove 
his hatred of the arch-heretic exhibited the image 
of the maternal Virgin holding in her arms the In- 
fant Godhead, either in his house as a picture, or 
embroidered on his garments, or on his furniture, on 
his personal ornaments — in short, wherever it could 


“Vide ‘‘ Memorie dell’ Immagine di M. Y. dell? Tpruneta. 
florence, 1714. 


26 INTRODUCTION. 


be introduced. It is worth remarking that Cyril, 
who was so influential in fixing the orthodox group, 
had passed the greater part of his life in Egypt, and — 
must have been familiar with the Egyptian type of 
Isis nursing Horus. Nor, as I conceive, is there 
any irreverence in supposing that a time-honoured 
intelligible symbol should be chosen to embody and 
formalize a creed. For it must be remembered 
that the group of the Mother and Child was not at 
first a representation, but merely a theological sym- 
bol set up in the orthodox churches, and adopted by 
the orthodox Christians. 

It is just after the Council of Ephesus that histo 
ry first makes mention of a supposed authentic por- 
trait of the Virgin Mary. The Empress Eudocia, 
when travelling in the Holy Land, sent home such a 
picture of the Virgin holding the Child to her sister- 
in-law Pulcheria, who placed it in a church at Con- 
stantinople. It was at that time regarded as of very 
high antiquity, and supposed to have been painted 
from the life. It is certain that a picture, tradition- 
ally said to be the same which Eudocia had sent to 
Pulcheria, did exist at Constantinople, and was so 
much venerated by the people as to be regarded as 
a sort of palladium, and borne in a superb litter or 
car in the midst of the imperial host, when the em- 

eror led the army in person. The fate of this relic 
is not certainly known. It is said to have been 
taken by the Turks in 1453, and dragged through 
the mire; but others deny this as utterly derogatory 
to the majesty of the Queen of Heaven, who never 
would have suffered such an indignity to have been 
put on her sacred image. According to the Vene- 
tian legend, it was this identical efigy which was 
taken by the blind old Dandolo, when he besieged 
and took Constantinople in 1204, and brought in 
triumph to Venice, where it has ever since been 
preserved in the church of St. Mark, and held in 
tomma venerazione. No mention is made of St 


INTRODUCTION. 243 


Luke in the earliest account of this picture, though 
like all the antique effigies of uncertain origin, it 
was in after times attributed. to him. 

The history of the next three hundred years tes- 
tifies to the triumph of orthodoxy, the extension 
and popularity of the worship of the Virgin, and 
the consequent multiplication of her image in every 
form and material, through the whole of Christen- 
dom. 

Then followed the schism of the Iconoclasts, 
which distracted the Church for more than one 
hundred years, under Leo III., the Isaurian, and 
his immediate successors. Such were the extrava- 
arity of superstition to which the image-worship 

ad led the excitable Orientals, that, if Leo had 
been a wise and temperate reformer, he might have 
done much good in checking its excesses; but he 
was himself an ignorant, merciless barbarian. The 
persecution by which he sought to exterminate the 
sacred pictures of the Madonna, and the cruel- 
ties exercised on her unhappy votaries, produced 
a general destruction of the most curious and 
precious remains of antique art. In other re- 
spects, the immediate result was naturally enough 
a reaction, which not only reinstated pictures in 
the veneration of the people, but greatly increased 
their influence over the imagination; for it is at 
this time that we first hear of a miraculous picture. 
Among those who most strongly defended the use 
of sacred images in the churches, was St. John 
Damascene, one of the great lights of the Oriental 
Church. According to the Greek legend, he was 
condemned to lose his right hand, which was ac- 
sordingly cut off; but he, full of faith, prostrating 
himself before a picture of the Virgin, stretched 
out the bleeding stump, and with it touched her 
lips, and immediately a new hand sprung forth 
“like a branch from a tree.” Hence, among the 
Greek effigies of the Virgin, there is one deculiarl+ 


28 INTRODUCTION. 


eemmemorative of this miracle, styled “ the Virgin 
with three hands.” (Didron, Manuel, p. 462.) Ip 
the west of Europe, where the abuses of the image 
worship had never yet reached the wild superstition 
of the Oriental Christians, the fury of the Icono- 
elasts excited horror and consternation. The tem- 
perate and eloquent apology for sacred pictures, 
addressed by Gregory II. to the Emperor Leo, had 
the effect of mitigating the persecution in Italy, 
where the work of destruction could not be carried 
out to the same extent as in the Byzantine prov- 
inces. Hence it isin Italy only that any important 
remains of sacred art anterior to the Iconoclast 
dynasty have been preserved.* 

The second Council of Nice, under the Empress 
Irene in 787, condemned the Iconoclasts, and re- 
stored the use of the sacred pictures in the churches. 
Nevertheless, the controversy still raged till after 
the death of Theophilus, the last and the most 
cruel of the Iconoclasts, in 842. His widow Theo- 
dora achieved the final triumph of the orthodox 
party, and restored the Virgin to her throne. We 
must observe, however, that only pictures were al- 
lowed; all sculptured imagery was still prohibited, 
and has never since been allowed in the Greek 
Church, except in very low relief. The flatter the 
surface, the more orthodox. 

It is, I think, about 886, that we first find the 
effigy of the Virgin on the coins of the Greek em- 
pire. On a gold coin of Leo VI., the Philosopher, 
she stands veiled, and draped, with a noble head, 
no glory, and the arms outspread, just as she ap- 
pears in the old mosaics. On a coin of Romanus 
the Younger, she crowns the emperor, having her- 


*It appears, from one of these letters from Gregory II., that 
rt was the custom at that time (725) to employ religious pictures 
asa means Of instruction in the schools. He says, that if Lee 
were to enter a school in Italy, and to say that he prohibited pic: 
tures, the children would infallibly throw their hornbooks ( Ta 
*elezze del alfaheto) at his head. —v. Bosio, p. 567. 


INTRODUCTION. 25 


self the nimbus; she is draped and veiled. On a 
coin of Nicephorus Phocus (who had great preten- 
sions to piety), the Virgin stands, presenting a 
eross to the emperor, with the inscription, “ Theo- 
tokos, be propitious.” On a gold coin of John 
Zimisces, 975, we first find the Virgin and Child, — 
the symbol merely: she holds against her bosom a 
eircular glory, within which is the head of the In- 
fant Christ. In the successive reigns of the next 
two centuries, she almost constantly appears as 
crowning the emperor. 

Returning to the West, we find that in the succeed- 
ing period, from Charlemagne to the first crusade, 
the popular devotion to the. Virgin, and the multipli- 
vation of sacred pictures, continued steadily to in- 
vrease ; yet in the tenth and eleventh centuries art 
was at its lowest ebb. At this time, the subjects 
relative to the Virgin were principally the Madonna 
and Child, represented according to the Greek 
form; and those scenes from the ‘Gospel i in which 
she is introduced, as the Annunciation, the Nativ- 
ity, and the Worship of the Magi. 

Towards the end of the tenth century the cus- 
tom of adding the angelic salutation, the “ Ave 
Maria,” to the Lord’s prayer, was first introduced , 
and by the end of the following century, it had 
been adopted in the offices of the Church. This 
was, at first, intended as a perpetual reminder of 
the mystery of the Incarnation, as announced by 
the angel. It must have had the effect of keeping 
the idea of Mary as united with that of her Son, 
and as the instrument of the Incarnation, con- 
tinually in the minds of the people. 

The pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and the cru- 
sades in the eleventh and the twelfth centuries, had 
a most striking effect on religious art, though this 
effect was not fully evolved “till a century later 
More particularly did this returning wave of Orr 
ental influences modify the representations of the 

3 


30 INTRODUCTION 


Virgin. Fragments of the apocryphal gospels and 
legends of Palestine and Egypt were now intro 
duced, worked up into ballads, stories, and dramas, 
and gradually incorporated with the teaching of 
the Church. A great variety of subjects derived 
from the Greek artists, and from particular locali- 
ties and traditions of the East, became naturalized 
in Western Europe. Among these were the le- 
gends of Joachim and Anna;.and the death, the 
assumption, and the coronation of the Virgin. 
Then came the thirteenth century, an era nota- 
ble in the history of mind, more especially notable 
in the history of art. The seed scattered hither 
and thither, during the stormy and warlike period 
of the crusades, now sprung up and flourished, 
bearing diverse fruit. A more contemplative en- 
thusiasm, a superstition tinged with a morbid mel- 
ancholy, fermented into life and form. In that 
general “fit of compunction,” which we are told 
seized all Italy at this time, the passionate devotion 
for the benign Madonna mingled the poetry of pity 
with that of pain; and assuredly this state of feel- 
ing, with its mental and moral requirements, must 
have assisted in emancipating art from the rigid 
formalism of the degenerate Greek school. Men’s 
hearts, throbbing with a more feeling, more pensive 
life, demanded something more like life, — and 
produced it. It is curious to trace in the Madon- 
nas of contemporary, but far distant and uncon- 
nected schools of painting, the simultaneous dawne 
ing of a sympathetic sentiment — for the first time 
something in the faces of the divine beings respon- 
sive to the feeling of the worshippers. It was this, 
perhaps, which caused the enthusiasm excited by 
Cimabue’s great Madonna, and made the people 
shout and dance for joy when it was uncovered - 
before them. Compared with the spectral rigidity, 
the hard monotony, of the conventional Byzan- 
ines, the more animated eyes, the little touch of 


INTRODUCTION. $1 


sweetness in the still, mild face, must have been 
like a smile out of heaven. As we trace the sameé 
softer influence in the earliest Siena and Cologne 
pictures of about the same period, we may fairly 
regard it as an impress of the spirit of the time, 
rather than that of an individual mind. 

In the succeeding century these elements of 
poetic art, expanded and animated by an awakened 
observation of nature, and a sympathy with her 
external manifestations, were most especially di- 
rected by the increasing influence of the worship 
of the Virgin, a worship : at once religious and chiv- 
alrous. The title of “Our Lady”* came first 
into general use in the days of chivalry, for she 
was the lady “of all hearts,” whose colours all 
were proud to wear. Never had her votaries so 
abounded. Hundreds upon hundreds had en- 
rolled themselves in brotherhoods, vowed to her 
especial service ;} or devoted to acts of charity, 
to be performed i in her name.f{ Already the great 
religious communities, which at this time compre- 
hended all the enthusiasm, learning, and influence 
of the Church, had placed themselves solemnly 
and especially under her protection. The Cister- 
cians wore white in honour of her purity; the 
Servi wore black in respect to her sorrows; the 
Franciscans had enrolled themselves as champions 
of the Immaculate Conception; and the Domini- 
cans introduced the rosary. All these richly en- 
dowed communities vied with each other in multi- 
plying churches, chapels, and pictures, in honour 
of their patroness, and expressive of her several 
attributes. The devout painter, kneeling before 
his asel, addressed himself to the task of | portray- 


* rr, Notre Dame. TJtal. La Madonna. (Ger. Unser lieke 
Frau. 

+ As the Serviti, who were called in France, les escluves da 
Marie. 

+ As the order of ‘‘ Orr Lady of Mercy,’ for the deliverance of 
santives. — Vide Legends of the Monastiv Orders, 


$2 INTRODUCTION. 


ing those heavenly lineaments which had visited 
him perhaps in dreams. Many of the professed 
monks and friars became themselves accomplished 
artists.* 

At this time, Jacopo di Voragine compiled the 
“ Golden Legend,” a collection “of sacred stories, 
some already current, some new, or in a new form. 
This famous book added many themes to those 
already admitted, and became the authority and 
storehouse for the early painters in their groups 
and dramatic compositions. ‘The increasing enthu- 
siasm for the Virgin naturally caused an increasing 
demand for the ‘subjects taken from her personal 
history, and led, consequently, to a more exact 
study of those natural objects and effects which 
were required as accessories, to greater skill in 
grouping the figures, and to a higher development 
of historic art. 

But of all the influences on Italian art in that 
wonderful fourteenth century, Dante was the great- 
est. He was the intimate friend of Giotto. Through 
the communion of mind, not less than through his 
writings, he infused into "religious art that mingled 
theology, poetry, and my sticism, which ruled in the 
Giottesque school during the following century, and 
went hand in hand with the development of the 
power and practice of imitation. Now, the the- 
ology of Dante was the theology of his age. His 
ideas respecting the Virgin Mary were precisely 
those to which the writings of St. Bernard, St. 
Bonaventura, and St. Thomas Aquinas had already 
lent all the persuasive power of eloquence, and the 
Church all the weight of her authority. Dante 
rendered these doctrines into poetry, and Giotte 


* A very curious and startling example of the theological char- 
acter of the Virgin in the thirteenth century is figured in Miss 
Twining’s work, ‘‘ The Symbols of early Christian Art;?’ cer 
tainly the most complete and useful book of the kind which 7 
know of. Here the Madonna and Child are seated side by sids 
with the Trinity ; the Holy Spirit resting on her crowned head. 


INTRODUCTION. 33 


and Iris followers rendered them into form. In the 
Paradiso of Dante, the glorification of Mary, as the 
“Mystic Rose ” (Rosa Mystica) and Queen of 
Heaven, — with the attendant angels, circle within 
circle, floating round her in adoration, and singing 
the Regina Cceli, and saints and patriarchs stretch- 
ing forth their hands towards her, —is all a splen- 
did, but still indefinite vision of dazzling light 
crossed by shadowy forms. The painters of the 
fourteenth century, in translating these glories into 
a definite shape, had to deal with imperfect knowl- 
edge and imperfect means; they failed in the power 
to realize either their own or the poet’s conception ; 
and yet —thanks to the divine poet!—that early 
conception of some of the most beautiful of the 
Madonna subjects — for instance, the Coronation 
and the Sposalizio— has never, as a religious and 
oetical conception, been surpassed by later artists, 
in spite of all the appliances of colour, and mastery 
of light and shade, and marvellous efficiency of 
hand since attained. 
Every reader of Dante will remember the sub 
ime hymn towards the close of the Paradiso: — 


““Vergine Madre, figlia del tuo figlio! 
Umile ed aita pit: che creatura, 
Termine fisso d’ eterno consiglio; 

Tu se’ colei che  umana natura 
Nobilitasti si, che ’1 suo fattore 
Non disdegno di farsi sua fattura; 

Nel ventre tuo si raccese |’ amore 
Per lo cui caldo nell’ eterna pace 
Cosi é germinato questo fiore; 

Qui se’ a noi meridiana face 
Di caritade, e giuso intra mortali 
Se’ di speranza fontana vivace: 

Donna, se’ tanto grande e tanto vali, 
Che qual vuol grazia e a te non ricorre 
Sua disianza vuol volar senz’ ali; 

La tua benignita non pur soccorre 
A chi dimanda, ma molte fiate 
Liberamente al dimandar precorre; 


84 INTRODUCTION. 


In te misericordia, in te pietate, 
In te magnificenza, in te s’ aduna 
Quantunque in creatura é di bontate!” 


To render the splendour, the terseness, the har 
mony, of this magnificent hymn seems impossible. 
Cary’s translation has, however, the merit of fidel- 
ity to the sense : — 


“Oh, Virgin-Mother, daughter of thy Son! 
Created beings all in lowliness 
Surpassing, as in height above them all; 
Term by the eternal counsel preordain’d; 
Ennobler of thy nature, so advane’d 
In thee, that its great Maker did not scorn 
To make himself his own creation; 
For in thy womb, rekindling, shone the love 
Reveal’d, whose genial influence makes now 
This flower to germin in eternal peace: 
Here thou, to us, of charity and love 
Art as the noon-day torch; and art beneath, 
To mortal men, of hope a living spring. 
So mighty art thou, Lady, and so great, 
That he who grace desireth, and comes not 
To thee for aidance, fain would have desire 
Fly without wings. Not only him who asks, 
Thy bounty succours; but doth freely oft 
Forerun the asking. Whatsoe’er may be 
Of excellence in creature, pity mild, 
Relenting mercy, large munificence, 
Are all combin’d in thee! ”’ 


It is interesting to turn to the correspondin 
stanzas in Chaucer. The invocation to the Virgin 
with which he commences the story of St. Cecilia 
is rendered almost word for word from Dante: — 


“Thou Maid and Mother, daughter of thy Son!” 
Thou wel of mercy, sinful soules cure! ”’ 


The last stanza of the invocation is his own, and as 
characteristic of the practical Chaucer, as it would 
have been contrary to the genius of Dante : — 


“ And for that faith is dead withouten workis, 
So for ta worken give me wit and grace! 


INTRODUCTION. $3 


That I be quit from thence that most dark is; 

O thou that art so fair and full of grace, 

Be thou mine advocate in that high place, 
There, as withouten end is sung Hozanne, 

Thou Christes mother, daughter dear of Anne!” 


Btill more beautiful and more his own is the invo 
eation in the “ Prioress’s Tale.” I give the stanzas 
as modernized by Wordsworth :— 


OQ Mother Maid! O Maid and Mother free! 
O bush unburnt, burning in Moses’ sight! 
That down didst ravish from the Deity, 
Through humbleness, the Spirit that did alight 
Upon thy heart, whence, through that glory’s might, 
Conceived was the Father’s sapience, 
Help me to tell it in thy reverence! 


“Lady, thy goodness, thy magnificence, 
Thy virtue, and thy great humility, 
Surpass all science and all utterance; 
For sometimes, Lady! ere men pray to thee, 
Thou go’st before in thy benignity, 
The light to us vouchsafing of thy prayer, 
To be our guide unto thy Son so dear. 


“My knowledge is so weak, O blissful Queen, 
To tell abroad thy mighty worthiness, 
That I the weight of it may not sustain; 
But as a child of twelve months old, or uss, 
That laboureth his language to express, 
Even so fare I; and therefore, I thee pray, 
Guide thou my song, which I of thee shall say.’’ 


And again, we may turn to Petrarch’s hymn te 
ths Virgin, wherein he prays to be delivered frona 
his love and everlasting regrets for Laura: — 


‘ Vergine bella, che di sol vestita, 
Coronata di stelle, al sommo Sole 
Piacesti si, che ’n te sua luce ascose. 

“Vergine pura, d’ ogni parte intera, 
Del tuo parto gentil figliuola e madre . 





“Vergine sola al mondo sex.za esempio, 
Che ’1 ciel di tue bellezze innamorasti ” 


36 INTRODUCTION. 


The fancy of the theologians of the middle age: 
played rather dangerously, as it appears to me, for 
the uninitiated and uninstructed, with the perplex- 
ity of these ‘divine relationships. It is impossible 
not to feel that in their admiration for the divine 
beauty of Mary, in borrowing the amatory lan- 
guage and luxuriant allegories of the Canticles, 
which represent her as an object of delight to the 
Supreme Being, theologians, poets, and artists had 
wrought themselves up to a wild pitch of enthu- 
siasm. In such passages as those I have quoted 
above, and in the grand old Church hymns, we find 
the best commentary and interpretation of the sa- 
cred pictures of the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- 
turies. Yet during the thirteenth century there 
was a purity in the spirit of the worship which at 
once inspired and regulated the forms in which it 
was manifested. The Annunciations and Nativities 
were still distinguished by a chaste and sacred sim- 
plicity. The features of the Madonna herself, even 
where they were not what we call beautiful, had 
yet a touch of that divine and contemplative grace 
which the theologians and the poets had associated 
with the queenly, maternal, and bridal character 
of Mary. 

Thus the impulses given in the early part of the 
fourteenth century continued in progressive devel- 
opment through the fifteenth; the spiritual for some 
time in advance of the material influences; the 
moral idea emanating as it were from the soul, and 
the influences of external nature flowing into it; 
the comprehensive power of fancy using more and 
more the apprehensive power of imitation, and 
both working together tili their “ blended might” 
achieved its full fruition in the works of Raphael. 


Early in the fifteenth century, the Council of 
Constance (A. D. 1414), and the condemnation of 
Huss, gave a new impulse to the worship of the 


INTRODUCTION. 87 


Virgin. ‘The Hussite wars, and the sacrilegiwus 
mdignity with which her sacred images had been 
treated in the north, filled her orthodox votaries of 
the south of Europe with a consternation and hor- 
ror like that excited by the Iconoclasts of the eighth 
century, and were followed by a similar reaction 
The Church was called upon to assert more strongly 
than ever its orthodox veneration for her, and, as 
a natural consequence, votive pictures multiplied 

the works of the excelling artists of the fifteenth 
century testify to the zeal of the votaries, and the 
kindred spirit in which the painters worked. 

Gerson, a celebrated French priest, and chancel- 

lor of the university of Paris, distinguished himself 
in the Council of Constance by the eloquence with 
which he pleaded for the Immaculate Conception, 
and the enthusiasm with which he preached in 
favour of instituting a festival in honour of this 
mystery, as well as another in honour of Joseph, 
‘the husband of the Virgin. In both he was unsuc- 
cessful during hisslifetime ; but for both eventually 
his writings prepared the way. He also composed 
a Latin poem of three thousand lines in praise of 
Joseph, which was among the first works published 
after the invention of printing. Together with St. 
Joseph, the parents of the Virgin, St. Anna more 
particularly, became objects of popular veneration, 
and all were at length exalted to the rank of patron 
saints, by having festivals instituted in their honour. 
It is towards the end of the fifteenth century, or 
rather a little later, that we first meet with that 
charming domestic group, called the “ Holy Fam- 
ily,” afterwards so popular, so widely diffused, and 
treated with such an infinite variety. 


Towards the end of this century sprung up a new 
mfluence, — the revival of classical learning, a pas: 
sionate enthusiasm for the poetry and mythology of 
the Greeks, and a taste tor the remains of antique 


88 : INTRODUCTION. 


art. This influence on the representations of the 
Virgin, as far as it was merely external, was good. 
An added dignity and grace, a more free and cor- 
rect drawing, a truer feeling for harmony of pro- 
portion and aii that constitutes elegance, were grad- 
ually infused into the forms and attitudes. But 
dangerous became the craving for mere beauty, — 
dangerous the study of the classical and heathen 
literature. This was the commencement of that 
thoroughly pagan taste which in the following cen- 
tury demoralized Christian art. There was now an 
attempt at varying the arrangement of the sacred 
groups which led to irreverence, or at best to a sort 
of superficial mannered grandeur; and from this 
Renee we date the first introduction of the portrait 

irgins. An early, and most scandalous example 
remains to us in one of the frescoes in the Vatican, 
which represents Giulia Farnese in the character 
of the Madonna, and Pope Alexander VI. (the infa- 
mous Borgia) kneeling at her feet in the character 
of avotary. Under the influences of the Medici the 
churches of Florence were filled with pictures of the 
Virgin, in which the only thing aimed at was an allur- . 
ing and even meretricious beauty. Savonarola thun- 
dered from his pulpit in the garden of San Marco 
against these impieties. He exclaimed against the 
profaneness of those who represented the meek 
mother of Christ in gorgeous apparel, with head un- 
veiled, and under the features of women too well and 
publicly known. He emphatically declared that if 
the pamters knew as well as he did the influence 
of such pictures in perverting simple minds, they 
would hold their own works ix horror and detesta- 
tion. Savonarola yielded to none in orthodox rev- 
2rence for the Madonna; but he desired that she 
should be represented in an orthodox manner. He 
perished at the stake, but not till after he had made 
v bonfire in the Piazza at Florence of the offensive 
effigies ; he perished — persecuted to death by the 


INTRODUCTION. 89 


Borgia family. But his influence on the greatest 
Florentine artists of his time is apparent in the Vir- 
gins of Botticelli, Lorenzo di Credi, and Fra Bar- 
tolomeo, all of whom had been his friends, admirers, 
and disciples: and all, differing from each other, 
were alike in this, that, whether it be the dignified 
severity of Botticelli, or the chaste simplicity of 
Lorenzo di Credi, or the noble tenderness of Fra 
Bartolomeo, we feel that each of them had aimed to 
portray worthily the sacred character of the Mother 
of the Redeemer. And to these, as I think, we 
might add Raphael himself, who visited Florence 
but a short time after the horrible execution of Sa- 
vonarola, and must have learned through his friend 
Bartolomeo to mourn the fate and revere the mem- 
ory of that remarkable man, whom he placed after- 
wards in the grand fresco of the “ Theolagia,” 
among the doctors and teachers of the Church. 
(Rome, Vatican.) Of the numerous Virgins paint- 
ed by Raphael in after times, not one is supposed 
to have been a portrait: he says himself, in a letter 
to Count Castiglione, that he painted from an idea 
in his own mind, “ mi servo d’ una certa idea che 
mi viene in mente ;” while in the contemporary 
works of Andrea del Sarto, we have the features of 
his handsome but vulgar wife in every Madonna he 
painted.* 

In the beginning of the sixteenth century, the 
constellation of living genius in every department 
of art, the riches of the Church, the luxurious hab- 
its and classical studies of the churchmen, the de- 
cline of religious conviction, and the ascendency 
of religious controversy, had combined to multiply 
church pictures, particularly those of a large and 


+The tendency to portraiture, in early Florentine and German 
art, i8 observable from an early period. The historical sacred 
tubjects of Masaccio, Ghirlandajo, and Van Eyck, are crowded 
with pororaits of living personages. Their introduction into de 
yotional subjects, in the character of sacred persons, ts far leag 
weusable. 


40 INTROVUCTION. 


decorative character. But, instead of the reign of 
faith, we had now the reign of taste. There was an 
absolute passion for picturesque grouping ; and, as 
the assembled figures were to be as varied as possi- 
ble in action and attitude, the artistic treatment, in 
order to prevent the lines of form and the colours 
of the draperies from interfering with each other, 
required great skill and profound, study: some of 
these scenic groups have become, in the hands of 
great painters, such as Titian, Paul Veronese, ana 
Annibale Caracci, so magnificent, that we are m- 
clined to forgive their splendid errors. The influ- 
ence of Sanazzaro, and of his famous Latin poem 
on the Nativity (“De Partu Virginis ”), on the artists 
of the middle of the sixteenth century, and on the 
choice and treatment of the subjects pertaining te 
the Madonna, can hardly be calculated; it was like. 
that of Dante in the fourteenth century, but in ite 
nature and result how different! The grand mate- 
rialism of Michael Angelo is supposed to have been 
allied to the genius of Dante ; but would Dante 
have acknowledged the group of the Holy Family 
in the Florentine Gallery, to my feeling, one of thé 
most profane and offensive of the so-called religious 
pictures, in conception and execution, which ever 
proceeded from the mind or hand of a great paint- 
er? No doubt some of the sculptural ‘Virgins of 
Michael Angelo are magnificent and stately i in atti- 
‘ude and expression, but too austere and mannered 
is religious conceptions: nor can we wonder if the 
predilection for the treatment of mere form led his 
followers and imitators into every species of exag- 
geration and affectation. In the middle of the 
sixteenth century, the same artist who painted a 
Leda, or a Psyche, or a Venus one day, painted for 
the same patron a Virgin of Mercy, or a * Mater 
Purissima ” on the morrow. Here, the voiary told 
nis beads, and recited his Aves, cetorc the blessed 
Mother of the Redeemer 414." ue was invoked 


INTRODUCTION. 4) 


m the purest Latin by titles which the classical 
mythology had far otherwise consecrated. I know 
aothing more disgusting in art than the long-limbed, 
studied, inflated Madonnas, looking grand with all 
their might, of this period ; luckily they have fallen 
‘nto such disrepute that we seldom see them. The 
“ Madonna dell’ lungo Collo” of Parmigiano might 
be cited as a favourable example of this mistaken 
and wholly artificial grace. (Florence, Pitti Pal.) 
But in the midst of these paganized and degener- 
ate influences, the reform in the discipline of the Ro- 
man Catholic Church was preparing a revolution in 
religious art. The Council of Trent had severely de- 
nounced the impropriety of certain pictures admitted 
into churches: at the same time, in the conflict of 
ereed which now divided Christendom, the agencies 
of art could not safely be neglected by that Church 
which had used them with such signal success. Spir- 
itual art was indeed no more. It was dead: it could 
never be revived without a return to those modes of 
thought and belief which had at first inspired it. 
Instead of religious art, appeared what I must call 
theological art. Among the events of this age, 
which had great influence on the worship and the 
representations of the Madonna, I must place the 
battle of Lepanto, in 1571, in which the combined 
fleets of Christendom, led by Don Juan of Austria, 
achieved a memorable victory over the Turks. ‘This 
victory was attributed by Pope Pius V. to the espe- 
cial interposition of the Blessed Virgin. A new 
invocation was now added to her Litany, under 
the title of Auailium Christianorum ; a new festival, 
that of the Rosary, was now added to those already 
held in her honour; and all the artistic genius 
which existed in Italy, and all the piety of ortho- 
Jox Christendom, were now laid under contribution 
to incase in marble sculpture, to enrich with count- 
.ess offerings, that miraculous hous2, which the an- 
gels had borne over land ana sea, and set dowu 


42 INTRODUCTION. 


at Loretto; and that miraculous, bejewelled, ana 
procaded Madonna, enshrined within it. 


In the beginning of the seventeenth century, the 
Caracci school gave a new impetus to religious, or 
rather, as it has been styled in contradistinctin, 
sacerdotal or theological art. If these great paint- 
ers had been remarkable merely for the application 
of new artistic methods, for the success with which 
they combined the aims of various schools — 


“ Di Michel Angiol la terribil via 
E ’1 vero natural di Tiziano,” 


the study of the antique with the observation of 
real life,— their works undoubtedly would never 
have taken such a hold on the minds of their con- 
temporaries, nor kept it so long. Everything to 
live must have an infusion of truth within it, and 
this “ patchwork ideal,” as it has been well styled, 
was held together by such a principle. The foun- 
ders of the Caracci school, and their immediate fol- 
lowers, felt the influences of the time, and worked 
them out. They were devout believers in their 
Church, and most sincere worshippers of the Madon- 
na. Guido, in particular, was so distinguished by 
his passionate enthusiasm for her, that he was sup- 
posed to have been favoured by a particular vision, 
which enabled him more worthily to represent her 
divine beauty. 

It is curious that, hand in hand with this develop- 
ment of taste and feeling in the appreciation of nat- 
ural sentiment and beauty, and this tendency te 
cealism, we find the associations of a peculiar and 
ppecific sanctity remaining with the old Byzantine 
type. ‘This arose from the fact, always to be borne 
in mind, that the most ancient artistic figure or 
the Madonna was a purely theological symbol: ap 
parently the moral type was too nearly allied te 
the human ani the real to satisfy faith. I is the 


INTRODUCTION. 43 


agly, dark-coloured, ancient Greek Madonnas, such 
as this, which had all along the credit of being mi- 
raculous: and “to this day,” says Kugler, “ the 
Neapolitan lemonade-seller will allow no other than 
a formal Greek Madonna, with olive-green com- 
eet and veiled head, to be set up in his booth.” 

tis the same in Russia. Such pictures, in which 
there is no attempt at representation, real or ideal, 
and which merely have a sort of imaginary sanctity 
and power, are not so much idols as they are mere 
Fetishes. The most lovely Madonna by Raphael 
or Titian would not have the same effect. Guido, 
who himself painted lovely Virgins, went every Sat- 
arday to pray before the little black Madonna della 
Guardia, and, as we are assured, held this old Hast- 
2rn relic in devout veneration. 

In the pictures of the Madonna, produced by the 
most eminent painters of the seventeenth century, 
is embodied the theology of the time. The Virgin 
Mary is not, like the Madonna di San Sisto, “a 
single projection of the artist’s mind,” but, as far ag 
he could put his studies together, she is “a com- 
pound of every creature’s best,” sometimes majes- 
tic, sometimes graceful, often full of sentiment, ele- 
zance, and refmemient, but wanting wholly in the 
‘piritual element. It the Madonna did really sit to 
Guido in person, (see Malvasia, “ Felsina Pittrice,”) 
we fancy she must have revealed her loveliness, but 
veiled her divinity. 

Without doubt the finest Madonnas of the seven- 
eenth century are those produced by'the Spanish 
school ; not because they more realize our spiritual 
sonception of the Virgin — quite the contrary: for 
here the expression of life through sensation and 
amotion prevails over abstract mind, ¢ grandeur, and 
grace;— but because the intensely human and 
sympathetic character given to the Madonna ap- 
seals most strongly to our human nature. Ths 
appeal is to the faith througb the feelings, rather 


&4 INTRODUCTION. 


than through the imagination. Morales and Ribera 
excelled in the Mater Dolorosa; and who has sur- 
passed Murillo in, the tender exultation of mater- 
nity?* There is a freshness and a depth of feelin 
in the best Madonnas of the late Spanish abhi 
which puts to shame the mannerism of the Italians, 
and the naturalism of the Flemish painters of the 
same period; and this because the Spaniards were 
intense and enthusiastic believers, not mere thinke 
vrs, in art as in religion. 

As in the sixth century, the favourite dogina of 
the time (the union of the divine and human na- 
ture in Christ, and the dignity of Mary as parent 
of both) had been embodied in the group of the 
Virgin and Child, so now, in the seventeenth, the 
doctrine of the eternal sanctification and predes- 
tination of Mary was, after a long controversy, 
triumphant, and took form in the “ Immaculate 
Conception ;” that beautiful subject in which Guido 
and Murillo excelled, and which became the darling 
theme of the later schools of art. It is worthy of 
remark, that while in the sixth century, and for a 
thousand years afterwards, the Virgin, in all devo- 
tional subjects, was associated in some visible man- 
ner with her divine Son, in this she appears without 
the Infant in her arms. The maternal character is 
set aside, and she stands alone, absolute in herself, 
and complete in her own perfections. This is a 
very significant characteristic of the prevalent the- 
ology of the time. 

1 forbear ‘to say much of the productions of a 
school of art which sprung up simultaneously with 
that of the Caracci, and in the end overpowered its 
higher aspirations. The Naturalisti, as they were 
called, imitated nature without selection, and pro- 
duced some charming painters. But their religious 


. c—) . . 
rictures are almost all intolerable, and their Ma- 


* See in the Handbook to the Private Galleries of Art some 
emarks on the tendencies of the Spanish School, p 172 


INTRODUCTION. 43 


fonnas are almost all portraits. Rubens and Al- 
bano painted their wives; Allori and Vandyck 
their mistresses; Domenichino his daughter. Sal- 
vator Rosa, in his Satires, exclaims against this 
general profaneness in terms not less strong than 
those of Savonarola in his Sermons; but the cor- 
ruption was by this time beyond the reach of cure; 
ithe sin could neither be preached nor chided away. 
Striking effects of light and shade, peculiar atti- 
tudes, scenic groups, the perpetual and dramatic 
introduction of legendary scenes and personages, 
of visions and miracles of the Madonna vouchsafed 
to her votaries, characterize the productions of the 
seventeenth century. As “they who are whole 
need not a physician, but they who are sick,” so in 
proportion to the decline of faith were the excite- 
ments to faith, or rather to credulity: just in pro- 
portion as men were less inclined to believe were 
the wonders multiplied which they were called on 
to believe. 

I have not spoken of the influence of Jesuitism 
on art. This Order kept alive that devotion for 
the Madonna which their great founder Loyola 
had so ardently professed when he chose for the 
“ Lady ” of his thoughts, “no princess, no duchess, 
but one far greater, more peerless.” The learning 
of the Jesuits supplied some themes not hitherto in 
use, principally of a fanciful and allegorical kind, 
and never had the meek Mary been so decked out 
with earthly ornament as in their church pictures. 
If the sanctification of simplicity, gentleness, ma- 
ternal love, and heroic fortitude, were calculated 
to elevate the popular mind, the sanctification of 
mere glitter and ornament, embroidered robes, and 
‘asin crowns, must have tended to degrade it 
t is surely an unworthy and a foolish excuse that, 
m thus desecrating with the vainest and most vul- 
par finery the beautiful ideal of the Virgin, an ap- 
veal was made to the awe and admira 1%n of vulgar 

4 


a6 INTRODUCTION. 


and ignorant minds; for this is precisely what, in 
all religious imagery, should be avoided. As, how- 
ever, this sacrilegious millinery does not come within 
the province of the fine arts, I may pass it over 
here. 

Among the Jesuit prints of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, I remember one which represents the Virgin 
and Child in the centre, and around are the most 
famous heretics of all ages, lying prostrate, or hang- 
ing by the neck. Julian the Apostate; Leo the 
Isaurian ; his son, Constantine Capronymus ; Arius; 
Nestoriis; Manicheus; Luther; Calvin : — very 
characteristic of the age of controversy which had 
succeeded to the age of faith, when, instead of sol- 
emn saints and grateful votaries, we have dead or 
dying heretics surrounding the Mother of Mercy! 


After this rapid sketch of the influences which 
modified in a general way the pictures of the Ma- 
donna, we may array before us, and learn to com- 
pare, the types which distinguished in a more par- 
ticular manner the separate schools, caught from 
some more local or individual impulses. Thus we 
have the stern, awful quietude of the old Mosairs; 
the hard lifelessness of the degenerate Greek ; the 
pensive sentiment of the Siena, and stately ele- 
gance of the Florentine Madonnas; the intellectual 
Milanese, with their large foreheads and thoughtfut 
eyes; the tender, refined mysticism of the Um- 
brian ; the sumptuous loveliness of the Venetian ; 
the quaint, characteristic simplicity of the early 
German, so stamped with their nationality, that I 
never looked round me in a room full of German 
girls without thinking of Albert Durer’s Virgins ; 
the intense life-like feeling of the Spanish; the 
prosaic, portrait-like nature of the Flemish schools 
and soon. But here an obvious question suggests 


INTRODUCTION. 47 


itself, In the midst of all this diversity, these ever- 
changing influences, was there no characteristic 
type universally accepted, suggested by common 
religious associations, if not defined by ecclesiasti- 
val ‘authority, to which the artist was bound to con- 
form? How is it that the impersenation of the 
Virgin fluctuated, not only with the fluctuating 
tendencies of successive ages, but even with the 
vaprices of the individual artist ? 

This leads us back to reconsider the sources 
from which the artist drew his inspiration. 

The legend which represents St. Luke the Evan- 
gelist as a painter appears to be of Kastern origin, 
and quite unknown in Western Europe before the 
first crusade. It crept in then, and was accepted 
with many other oriental superstitions and tradi- 
tions. It may have originated in the real existence 
of a Greek painter named Luca — a saint, too, he 
may have been; for the Greeks have a whole cal- 
endar of canonized artists, — painters, poets, and 
musicians; and this Greek San Luca may have 
been a painter of those Madonnas imported from 
the ateliers of Mount Athos into the West by mer- 
chants and pilgrims; and the West, which knew 
but of one St. Luke, may have easily confounded 
the painter and the evangelist. 

But we must also remember, that St. Luke the 
Evangelist was early regarded as the great author- 
ity with respect to the few Scripture particulars 
relating to the character and life of Mary; so that, 
in the fiourative sense, he may be said to have 
vainied that portrait of her which has been since 
received as the perfect type of womanhvol:—1. 
Her noble, trustful humility, when she receives the 
salutation of the angel (Luke i. 88); the complete 
and feminine surrender of her whole being to the 
higher, holier will—“ Be it unto me according to 
thy word.” 2. Then, the decision and prudence 
of character, shown in her visit to Elizabeth, her 


48 INTRODUCTION. 


older relative ; her journey in haste over the hills 
to consult with her cousin, which journey it is 
otherwise difficult to accord with the oriental cus- 
tems of the time, unless Mary, young as she was, 
had possessed unusual promptitude and energy of 
disposition. (Luke i. 39, 40.) 38. The proof of 
her intellectual power in the beautiful hymn she 
has left us, “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” 
(Luke 1.46.) The commentators are not agreed 
as to whether this effusion was poured forth by 
immediate inspiration, or composed and written 
down, because the same words, “and Mary said,’ 
may be interpreted in either sense; but we can nu 
more doubt her being the authoress, than we can 
doubt of any other particulars recorded in the 
same Gospel: it proves that she must have been, 
for her time and country, most rarely gifted in 
mind, and deeply read in the Scriptures. 4. She 
was of a contemplative, reflecting, rather silent 
disposition. ‘She kept all these sayings, and pon- 
dered them in her heart.” (Luke i. 51.) She 
made no boast of that wondrous and most blessed 
destiny to which she was called; she thought. upon 
it in silence. It is inferred that as many of these 
sayings and events could be known to herself alone, 
St. Luke the Evangelist could have learned them 
only from her own lips. 5. Next her truly mater- 
nal devotion to her divine Son, whom she attended 
humbly through his whole ministry ;* 6. and lastly, 
the sublime fortitude and faith with which she fol- 
lowed her Son to the death scene, stood beside the 
cross till all was finished, and then went home, and 


* Milton places in the mouth of our Saviour an allusion to th¢ 
wnfluence of his Mother in early life: — 


““'These growing thoughts my mother soon perceiving 
By words at times cast forth, inly rejoiced, 

And said to me apart, * High are thy thoughts, 

O Son; but nourish them, and let them soar 

To what height sacred virtue and true wortk 

Can raise them, though above example high,’ ” 


INTRODUCTION. 4$ 


kved (Luke xxiii.); for she was to be to us an 

example of all tha a woman could endure, as well 
gs all that a woman could be ard act out in her 
earthly life. (John xix. 25.) Such was the char- 
acter of Mary; such the portrait really painted by 
St. Luke; and, as it seems to me, these “leak 
artless, unintentional notices of conduct and char- 
acter converge into the most perfect moral type of 
the intellectual, tender, simple, and heroic woman 
that ever was placed before us for our edification 
and example. 

But in the Church traditions and enactments, 
another character was, from the fifth century, as- 
signed to her, out of which grew the theological 
type, very beautiful and exalted, but absorbing to 
a great degree the scriptural and moral type, and 
substituting for the merely human attributes others 
borrowed from her relation to the great scheme of 
redemption; for it was contended that, as the 
mother of the Divine, she could not be herself less 
than divine; censequently above the angels, and 
first of all created beings. According to the doc- 
trine of the Immaculate Conception, her tender 
woman’s wisdom became supernatural gifts; the 
beautiful humility was changed into a knowledge 
of her own predestined glory; and, being raised 
bodily into immortality, and placed beside her Son, 
in all “the sacred splendour of beneficence,” she 
came to be regarded as our intercessor before that 
divine Son, who could refuse nothing to his mother. 
The relative position of the Mother “and Son being 
spiritual and indestructible was continued in heav- 
en; and thus step by step the woman was trans- 
muted into the divinity. 

But, like her Son, Mary had walked in human 
form upon earth, and in form must have resembled 
her Son; for, as it is argued, Christ had no earthly 
father, therefore could only have derived his human 
lineaments from his mother. Ail the old legends 


50 INTRODUCTION. 


assume that the resemblance between the Son and 
the Mother must have been perfect. Dante alludes 
to this belief: 


“ Riguarda ormai nella faccia ch’ a Christo 
Piu s’ assomiglia.”’ 
“Now raise thy view 
Unto the visage most resembling Christ.” 


The accepted type of the head of Christ was to be 
taken as a model in its mild, intellectual majesty, 
for that of the Virgin-mother, as far as difference 
of sex would allow. 

In the ecclesiastical history of Nicephorus Callix- 
tus, he has inserted a description of the person of 
Mary, which he declares to have been given by 
Epiphanius, who lived in the fourth century, and 
by him derived from a more ancient source. It 
must be confessed, that the type of person here 
assigned to the Virgin is more energetic for a 
woman than that which has been assigned to our 
Saviour as a man. “She was of middle stature ; 
her face oval; her eyes brilliant, and of an olive 
tint; her eyebrows arched and black ; her hair was 
of a pale brown; her complexion fair as wheat. 
She spoke little, but she spoke freely and affably ; 
she was not troubled in her speech, but grave, 
courteous, tranquil. Her dress was without orna- 
ment, and in her deportment was nothing lax or 
feeble.” ‘To this ancient description of her person 
and manners, we are to add the scriptural and 
popular portrait of her mind; the gentleness, the 
purity, the intellect, power, and fortitude; the gifts 
of the poetess and prophetess; the humility m 
which she exceeded all womankind. Lastly, we 
are to engraft on these personal and moral quali- 
ties, the theological attributes which the Church, 
from early times, had assigned to her, the super- 
natural endowments which lifted her above angels 
and men: —all these were to be comtined ints 


INTRODUCTION. 5 


vne glorious type of perfection. Where shall we 
seek this highest, holiest impersonat?on! Where 
has it been attained, or even epproached? Not, 
certainly, in the mere woman, nor yet in the mere 
_ idol; not in those lovely creations which awaken 
a sympathetic throb of tenderness; nor in those 
stern, motionless types, which embody a dogma; 
not in the classic features of marble goddesses, 
borrowed as models; nor in the painted images 
which stare upon us from tawdry altars in flaxen 
wigs and embroidered petticoats. But where ? 

Of course we each form to ourselves some notion 
of what we require; and these requirements will 
be as diverse as our natures and our habits of 
thought. For myself, I have seen my own ideal 
once, and only once, attained: there, where Ra- 
phael— inspired if ever painter was inspired — 
projected on the space before him that wonderful 
creation which we style the Madonna di San Sisto 
(Dresden Gal.) ; for there she stands —the trans- 
figured woman, at once completely human and. 
completely divine, an abstraction of power, purity, 
and love, poised on the empurpled air, and requir- 
ing no other support ; looking out, with her melan- 
choly, loving mouth, her slightly dilated, sibylline 
pyes, quite through the universe, to the end and 
consummation of all things ; — sad, as if she beheld 
afar off the visionary sword that was to reach her 
heart through Him, now resting as enthroned on 
that heart ; yet already exalted through the homage 
of the redeemed generations who were to salute 
her as Blessed. Six times have I visited the city 
made glorious by the possession of this treasure, 
and as often, when again at a distance, with recol- 
:ections disturbed by feeble copies and prints, I 
have begun to think, “Is it so indeed? is she in- 
deed so divine ? or does not rather the imagination 
encircle her with a hale of religion and poetry, 
and lend a grace which is not really there?” and 


LIBRARY 


MMIVERSITY OF ILLINGIS 


52 INTRODUCTION. 


as often, when returned, I have stood before it 
and confessed that there is more in that form and 
face than I had ever yet conceived. I cannot here 
talk the language of critics, and speak of this pie- 
ture merely as a picture, for to me it was a revela- 
tion. In the same gallery is the lovely Madonna 
of the Meyer family; inexpressibly touching and 
perfect in its way, but conveying only one of the 
attributes of Mary, her benign pity; while the Ma 
donna di San Sisto is an abstract of all.* 


The poets are ever the best commentators on the 
painters. I have already given from the great 
“singers of high poems” in the fourteenth century 
their exposition of the theological type of the Ma- 
donna. Now, in some striking passages of our 
modern poets, we may find a most beautiful com- 
mentary on what I have termed the moral type. 

The first is from Wordsworth, and may be recited 
before the Madonna di San Sisto : — 


“Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost 


With the least shade of thought to sin allied! 
Woman! above all women glorified; 

Our tainted nature’s solitary boast; 

Purer than foam on central ocean tost; 
Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn 
With fancied roses, than the unblemish’d moon 
Before her wane begins on heaven’s blue coast, 
Thy Image falls to earth. Yet some I ween, 
Not unforgiven, the suppliant knee might bend, 
As to a visible Power, in which did blend 

All that was mix’d and reconcil’d in thee, 

Of mother’s love with maiden purity, 

Of high with low, celestial with terrene.”’ 


The next, from Shelley, reads like a hymn in 
ponour of the Immaculate Conception :— 


* Expression is the great and characteristic excellence of Raphael 
more especially in his Madonnas. It is precisely this which al 
copies and engravings render at best most imperfectly: and iv 
point of expression the most successful engraving of the Ms 
tonna di San Sisto is certainly that of Steinla. 


INTRODUCTION. va 


Seraph of Heaven! too gentle to be human, 
Veiling beneath that radiant form of woman 

All that is insupportable in thee 

Of light, and love, and immortality! 

Sweet Benediction in the eternal curse! 

Veil’d Glory of this lampless Universe! 

Thou Moon beyond the clouds! Thou living Form 
Among the Dead! Thou Star above the storm! 
Thou Wonder, and thou Beanty, and thou Terroi ! 
Thou Harmony of Nature’s art! Thou Mirror 

In whom, as in the splendour of the Sun, 

All shapes look glorious whica thou gazest on!” 


“See where she stands! a mortal shape endued 
With love, and life, and light, and deity; 
The motion which may change but cannot die, 
An image of some bright eternity ; 
A shadow of some golden dream; a splendour 
Leaving the third sphere pilotless.”’ 


I do not know whether intentionally or not, but wa 
have here assembled some of the favourite symbols 
of the Virgin —the moon, the star, the “ terribilis 
ut castrorum acies” (Cant. vi. 10), and the mirror. 

The third is a passage from Robert Browning, 
which appears to me to sum 1p the moral ideal : — 


‘“‘ There is a vision in the heart of each, 
Of justice, mercy, wisdom, tenderness 
To wrong and pain, and knowledge of their cure; 
And these embodied in a woman’s form 
That best transmits them pure as first received 
From God above her to mankind below!” 


{I. SYMBOLS AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE VIRGIN, 


That which the genius of the greatest of painters 
only once expressed, we must not look to find in his 
predecessors, who saw only partial glimpses of the 
union of the divine and human in the feminine 
form; still less in his degenerate successors, whe 
never beheld it at all. 

The difficulty of fully expressing this complex 


b4 INTRODUCTION. 


ideal, and the allegorical spirit of the time, first sug 
gested the expedient of placing round the figure 
of the glorified Virgin certain accessory symbols, 
which should assist the artist to express, and the 
observer to comprehend, what seemed beyond the 
power of art to portray ; — a language of metaphor 
then understood, and which we also must understand 
if we would seize the complete theological idea in 
tended to be conveyed. 

I shall begin with those symbols which are bor 
rowed from the Litanies of the Virgin, and from 
certain texts_of the-Canticles, in all ages of the 
Church applied to her; symbols which, in the fif- 
teenth and sixteenth centuries, frequently accom- 
pany those representations which set forth her Glori-__ 
fication or Predestination; and, in the seventeenth, 
are introduced into the “ Immaculate Conception.” 

1. The Sun andthe. Moon. —“ Electa ut Sol, 
pulchra_ut Luna,” is one of the texts of the Can- 
‘ticles applied to Mary; and also in a passage of 
the Revelation, “A woman clothed with the sun, 
having the moon under her feet, and on her head a 
crown of twelve stars.” Hence the radiance of the 
sun above her head, and the crescent moon beneath 
her feet. From inevitable association the crescent 
moon suggests the idea of her perpetual chastity ; 
but in this sense it would be a pagan rather than a 
Christian attribute. 

2. The Star.— This attribute, often embroid- 
ered in front of the veil of the Virgin or on the 
right shoulder of her blue_mantle, has become al- 
most. as a badge from which several well-known 
pictures derive their title, “La Madonna della 
Stella.” It is in the first place an attribute allud- 
mg to the most beautiful and expressive I 
—— titles : — “ Stella Mata” Sor ot the Boat 
which is one interpretation-of—herJewish—name~ 


* “Ave Maris Stella 
Dei Mater alma!” &e 


INTRODUCTION 5d 


Miriam: but she_is also “ Stella_Jacobi,” the Star. 
of Jacob; “ ‘Stella Matutina,” the Morning..Star; 

tella non Erratica,’ the FixedStar. When, in- 
stead of the single star on her veil or mantle, she 
has the crown of twelve stars, the allusion is to the 
text of the Apocalypse already quoted, and the 
number of stars is in allusion to the number of the 
Apostles.* 

3. The Liry.—“ I am the rose of Sharon, and 
lily of the valleys.” (Cant. ii. 1, 2.) As the gen- 
eral emblem of purity, the lily is introduced inta 
the Annunciation, where it ought to be without 
stamens : and in the enthroned. Madonnas it is fre- 

uently placed in the hands. of attendant angels, 

ore particularly in the Florentine Madonnas; the 
lily, as the emblem of their-patroness,-being chosen 
by the citizens as the device of the city. For the 
same reason it became that of the French monar- 
chy. Thorns are sometimés interlaced with the lily, 
to express the “ Lilium inter Spinas.” (Cant. i. 2.) 

4. The Rosr. —.She is the rose of Sharon, as 
well as the lily of the valley ; and as an emblem of 
love and beauty, the rose is especially dedicated to 
her. The plantation or garden of roses + is often 
introduced ; sometimes it forms the background of 
the picture. There is a most beautiful example i in 
a Madonna by Cesare di Sesto (Milan, Brera) ; 
and another, “ the Madonna of the Rose Bush,” by 
Martin Schoen. (Cathedral, Colmar.) 


5. The EncLosep GARDEN (Hortus conclusus) 

is an image borrowed, like many others, from the 
Sang_of Solomon. (Cant. iv. 12.) I have seen 
this enclosed garden very significantly placed in 
the background of the Annunciation, and in pic- 


tures of the Immaculate Conception. Sometimes 
the enclosure is formed of a treillage or hedge of 





*“CTn capite inquit ejus corona stellarum duodecim; quidni 
soronent sidera quam sol vestit? ?? — St. Bernard. 
f Quasi plantatio ross in Jerich¢ 


56 INTRUDUCTION. 


roses, as in a beautiful Virgin by Francia.* Some: 
times it is merely formed of stakes or palisades, as 
in some of the prints by Albert Durer. 

The WELL always full; the Founrarn forever 
sealed; the Towrr.of David; the Tumpxz.of.Sole 
omon ; the Crry_of David (Civitas sancta), (Cant. 
iv4, 12, 15); all these are attributes borrowed 
from the Canticles, and are introduced into pictures 
and stained glass. 

6. The Porta Ciausa, the Closed Gate, is ane _ 
other metaphor, taken from the prophecy of Eze 
kiel (xliv. 4). 

7. The Crepar of Lebanon (Cedrus exaltata, 
“exalted as a cedar in Lebanon”), because of its 
height, its incorruptible substance, its perfume, and 
the healing virtues attributed to it in the East, ex- 
ata the greatness, the beauty, the goodness of 

ary. 

_ The victorious PALM,.the Plantain “far spread- 
ing,” and the Cypress pointing to heaven, are also 
emblems of the Virgin. 

The OLIvE, as a sign of peace, hope,.and abun- 
dance, is also a fitting emblem of the graces of 
Mary.t 

8. The Stem of Jesse (Isa. xi. 1), figured as a 
green branch entwined with flowers, is also very 
significant. 

9. The Mrrror (Specula sine maculd) is a met 
aphor borrowed from the Book of Wisdom (vii. 
25). We meet with it in some of the late pictures 
sf the Immaculate Conception. 

10. The SzaLtep Book is also a symbol often 
placed in the hands of the Virgin in a mystical An: 
nunciation, and sufficiently significant. ‘The allu« 
‘sion is to the text, “In that book were all mymem- 


* Munich Gal. ; another by Antonio da Negroponte in the Say 
Francesco della Vigna at Venice, is alsc an instance of this signifi 
wut background. 

+ Quasi oliva speciosa in campis. 


INTRODUCTION. 7 


bers writter;” and also to the text in Isaiah (xxix. 
11, -12);~im which he describes the _vision..of—the. 
pook that was sealed, and could be read neither by: 
the Tearned nor the unlearned. 

~II- The Bush which burned and was not con- 
sumed,” is introduced, with a mystical significance, 
into an Annunciation by Titian. 


Besides these symbols, which have a mystic and 
sacred significance, and are applicable to the Virgin 
only, certain attributes and accessories are intro- 
duced into pictures of the Madonna and Child, 
which:are capable of a more general interpretation. 

oa the_e renty, 
was very early placed in the hand of the divine _ 
_Child..-When the globe is under the feet of the 

Madonna and encircled by a serpent, as in some 
later pictures, it figures our Redemption ; her tri- 
umph over a fallen world — fallen through sin. 

2. The SERPENT is the general emblem of Sin or 
Satan; but under the feet of the Virgin it has a pe- 
culiar significance. She has generally her foot on 
the head of the reptile. ‘“SHe shall bruise thy 
head,” as it is interpreted in the Roman Catholic 
Church.* 

3. The-AppLE, which of all the attributes is the 
most common, signifies the fall of man, which made 
Redemption necessary. It is sometimes placed in 
the hands of the Child; but when in the hand 
“ the Mother, she is then-designated.as the second 

ve. 
iy E,.With the seedsdisplayed, 
was the ancient emblem of hope, and more particu- 

“larly of religious hope. It is often placed in the 
hands of the Child; who sometimes presents it ta 
his Mother. 

Other fruits and flowers, always beautiful acces 


* Ipsa conteret caput tuum. 
t Mors per Evam vita per Mariam 


58 INTRODUCTION. 


sories, are frequently introduced according to the 
taste of the artist. But fruits in a general sense 
signified “the fruits of the Spirit — joy, peace, 
_love;” and flowers were consecrated to the Vir- 
gin: hence we yet see them placed before her as 
offerings. 

5. Ears oF WueAT in the hand of the Infant 
(as in a lovely little Madonna by Ludovico Ca- 
racci)* figured the bread in the Eucharist, and 
GRAPES the wine. 

6. The Boox. —In the hand of the Infant Christ, 
the book is the Gospel in a general sense, or it is 
the Book of Wisdom. In the hand of the Madonna, 
it may have one of two meanings. When open, or 
when she has her finger between the leaves, or 
when the Child is turning over the pages, then it is 
the Book of Wisdom, and is always supposed to be 
open at the seventh chapter. When the book is 
clasped or sealed, it is a mystical symbol of the 
Virgin herself, as I have already explained. 

7. [The Dove, as the received emblem of the 
Holy Spirit, is properly placed above, as hovering 
over the Virgin. There is an exception to this rule 
in a very interesting picture in the Louvre, where 
the Holy Dove (with the nimbus) is placed at the 
feet of the Child.t This is so unusual, and so con- 
trary to all the received proprieties of religious art, 
that I think the nimbus may have been added after- 
wards. 

The seven doves round the head of the Virgin 
siynify the seven gifts of the Spirit. These char- 
acterize her as personified Wisdom — the Mater 
Sapientia. 

Dots placed near Mary when she is reading, or 
at work in the temple, are expressive of her gen- 
tleness and tenderness. 


* Lansdowne Collection. There was another exactiy similay 
the collection of Mr. Rogers. 
The Virgin has the air of a gipsy. (Louvre, 515.) 


INTRODUCTION. 5$ 


@. Birps.— The bird in the Egyptian hiero- 
plyphics signified the soul of man. In the very 
ancient pictures there can be no doubt, I think, 
that the bird in the hand of Christ figured the soul, 
or the spiritual as opposed to the material. But, ir 
the later pictures, the original meaning being lost. 
birds became mere ornamental accessories, or play- 
things. Sometimes it is a parrot from the Kast, 
sometimes a partridge (the partridge is frequent in 
the Venetian pictures): sometimes a goldfinch, as 
in Raphael’s Madonna dei Cardellino. In a Ma- 
donna by Guercino, the Mother holds a bird perched 
on her hand, and the Child, with a most naive in- 
fantine expression, shrinks back from it.* In a 
picture by Baroccio, he holds it up before a cat 
(Nat. Gal. 29), so completely were the original 
symbolism and all the religious proprieties of art at 
this time set aside. 

Other animals are occasionally introduced. Ex- 
tremely offensive are the apes when admitted into 
devotional pictures. We have associations with 
the animal as a mockery of the human, which ren- 
der it a very disagreeable accessory. It appears 
that, in the sixteenth century, it became the fashion 
to keep apes as pets, and every reader of Vasari 
will remember the frequent mention of these ani- 
mals as pets and favourites of the artists. Thus only 
ean I account for the introduction of the ape, par- 
Acularly in the Ferrarese pictures. Bassano’s dog, 
%aroccio’s cat, are often introduced. In a famous 
picture by Titian, “ La Vierge au Lapin,” we have 
the rabbit. (Louvre.) The introduction of these 
and other animals marks the decline of religious 
art. 

Certain women of the Old Testament are re- 
garded as especial types of the Virgin. 

Eve. Mary is regarded as the second Eve, be 


* It was in the collection of Mr. Rogers. 


40 INTRODUCTION. 


cause, through her, came the promised Redemption 
She bruised the head of the Serpent. The Tree 
of Life, the Fall, or Eve holding the Apple, are 
constantly introduced allusively in the Madonna 
pictures, as ornaments of her throne, or on the pre- 
della of an altar-piece representing the Annuncia- 
tion, the Nativity, or the Coronation. 

RACHEL figures as the ideal of contemplative 
life. 

Rut, as the ancestress of David. 

ABISHAG, as “the Virgin who was brought to 
the King.” (1 Kings i. 1.) 

BATHSHEBA, because she sat upon a throne on 
the right hand of her Son. 

JupiTH and EsTuHeEr, as having redeemed their 
pens and brought deliverance to Israel. It is 

ecause of their typical character, as emblems of 
the Virgin, that these Jewish heroines so often fig- 
ure in the religious pictures.* 

In his “ Paradiso” (ce. xxxii.), Dante represents 
ve, Rachel, Sara, Ruth, Judith, as seated at the 
feet of the Virgin Mary, beneath her throne in 
heaven; and next to Rachel, by a refinement of 
spiritual and poeticai gallantry, he has placed his 
Beatrice. 

In the beautiful frescoes of the church of St. 
Apollinaris at Remagen, these Hebrew women 
stand together in a group below the throne of the 
Virgin. 

Of the Prophets and the Sibyls who attend on 
Christ in his character of the Messiah or Redeemer, 
I shall have much to say, when describing the ar- 
tistic treatment of the history and character of Our 
Lord. ‘Those of the prophets who are supposed te 
refer more particularly to the Incarnation, prop- 
erly attend on the Virgin and Child; but in the 
ancient altar-pieces, they are not placed within the 


* The artistic treatment of these characters as types of the - 
Virgin, will be found in the fowh series of “* Legendary Art.” 


INTRODUCTION. 6) 


same frame, nor are they grouped immediately 
round her throne, but form the oater accessories, of 
are treated separately as symbolical. 

First, Mosss, because he beheld the burning 
bush, “ which burned and was not consumed.” He 
is generally in the act of removing his sandals. 

AARon, because his rod blossomed miraculously. 

GIDEON, on whose fleece descended the dew of 
heaven, while all was dry around. 

DANIEL, who beheld the stone which was cut 
vut without hands, and became a great mountain, 
filling the earth. (ch. ii. 45.) 

Davi, as prophet and ancestor. “ Listen, O 
daughter, and incline thine ear.” 

IsarAH. “Behold a virgin shall conceive and 
bear a son.” 

EzexieL. “This gate shall be shut.” (ch. xliv. 
os 

Certain of these personages, Moses, Aaron, Gid- 
eon, Daniel, Ezekiel, are not merely accessories 
and attendant figures, but in a manner attributes, 
as expressing the character of the Virgin. Thus 
in many instances, we find the prophetical person- 
ages altogether omitted, and we have simply the 
attribute figuring the prophecy itself, the burning 
bush, the rod, the dewy fleece, &c. 

The Sibyls are sometimes introduced alternately 
with the Prophets. In general, if there be only 
two, they are the Tiburtina, who showed the vision 
to Augustus, and the Cumean Sibyl who foretold 
the birth of our Saviour. The Sibyls were much 
the fashion in the classic times of the sixteenth cen- 
tury; Michael Angelo and Raphael have left us 
consummate examples. 

But I must repeat that the full consideration of 
the Prophets and Sibyls as accessories belongs tc 
another department of sacred art, and they will 
lind their place there. 

The Evangelists frequently, and sometimes one 


‘B2 INTRODUCTION. 


or more of the Twelve Apostles, appear as accesso 
ries which assist the theological conception. When 
other figures are introduced, they are generally 
either the protecting saints of the country or locality, 
or the saints of the Religious Order to whom the 
edifice belongs ; or, where the picture or window is 
an ex-voto, we find the patron saints of the confra- 
ternity, or of the donor or votary who has dedi- 
cated it. 

Angels seated at the feet of the Madonna and 
playing on musical instruments, are most lovely and 
appropriate accessories, for the choral angels are 
always around her in heaven, and on earth she is 
the especial patroness of music and minstrelsy.* 
Her delegate Cecilia patronized sacred music; but 
all music and musicians, all minstrels, and all who 
plied the “gaye science,” were under the protec- 
tion of Mary y- When the angels are singing from 
their music’ books, and others are accompanying 
them with lutes and viols, the song is not always 
supposed to be the same. In a Nativity they sing 
the “ Gloria in excelsis Deo ;” in a Coronation, the 
“Reoina Ceeli;” in an enthroned Madonna with 
votaries, the dc Salve Regina, Mater Misericor- 
lize!” in a pastoral Madonna and Child it may be 
the “ Alma Mater Redemptoris.” 


In all the most ancient devotional effigies (those 
in the catacombs and the old mosaics), the Virgin 
appears as a majestic woman of mature age. In 
those subjects taken from her history which precede 
ter return from Egypt, and in the Holy Families, 
she should appear as a young maiden from fifteen 
“0 seventeen years old. 

In the subjects taken from her history which foi- 
fow the baptism of our Lord, she should appear aa 
a matron between forty and fifty, but still of a 


* The picture by Lo Spagna, lately added to our National Gab 
ery is a beautiful example. 


INTROVUCTION. 63 


sweet and gracious aspect. When Michael Angelo 
was reproached with representing his Mater Dolo- - 
rosa much too young, he replied that the perfect 
virtue and serenity of the character of Mary would 
have preserved her beauty and youthful appear- 
ance long beyond the usual period.* 

Because some of the Greek pictures and carved 
images had become black through extreme age, it 
was argued by certain devout writers, that the Vir- 
gin herself must have been of a very dark com- 
plexion; and in favour of this idea they quoted this 
text from the Canticles, ‘I am black, but comely, 
O ye daughters of Jerusalem.” But others say that 
her complexion had become black only during her 
sojourn in Egypt. At all events, though the black- 
ness of these antique images was supposed to en- 
hance their sanctity, it has never been imitated in 
the fine arts, and it is quite contrary to the de- 
scription of Nicephorus, which is the most ancient 
authority, and that which is followed in the Greek 
school. 

The proper dress of the Virgin is a close red 
tunic, with long sleeves ;+ and over this a blne 
robe or mantle. In the early pictures, the colours 
are pale and delicate. Her head ought to be veiled. 
The fathers of the primeval Church, particularly 
Tertullian, attach great importance to the decent 
veil worn by Christian maidens; and in all the 
early pictures the Virgin is veiled. The enthroned 
Virgin, unveiled, with long tresses falling down on 
«ither side, was an innovation introduced about the 
end of the fifteenth century ; commencing, I think, 
with the Milanese, and thence adopted in the Ger 


* The group in St. Peter’s, Rome. 

+ Ina famous Piet& by Raphael, engraved by Mare Antonio, 
the Virgin, standing by the dead form of her Son, has the right 
arm apparently bare; in the repetition of the subject it is 
clothed with a full sleeve, the impropriety being corrected. The 
first is, however, the most perfect and most precious as a work 
wf art. — Bartsch, xiv. 34, 35. 


64 INTRODUCTION. 


man schools and those of Northern Italy. Tha 
German Madonnas of Albert Durer’s time have 
often magnificent and luxuriant hair, curling in 
ringlets, or descending to the waist in rich waves, 
and always fair. Dark-haired Madonnas appear 
first in the Spanish and later Italian schools. 

In the historical pictures, her dress is very sim- 
pe ; but in those devotional figures whicn represent 
er as queen of heaven, she wears a splendid 
crown, sometimes of jewels interwoven with lilies 
and roses. The crown is often the sovereign crown 
of the country in which the picture is placed: thus, 
in the Papal States, she often wears the triple 
tiara ; in Austria, the imperial diadem. Her blue 
tunic is richly embroidered with gold and gems, or 
lined with ermine, or stuff of various colours, in ac- 
cordance with a text of Scripture: “The King’s 
daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is of 
wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the King 
in a vesture of needlework.” (Ps. xlv. 13.) In 
the Immaculate Conception, and in the Assump- 
tion, her tunic should. be plain white, or white 
spangled with golden stars. In the subjects relat- 
ing to the Passion, and after the Crucifixion, the 
dress of the Virgin should be violet or gray. 
These proprieties, however, are not always attended 
to. - 
In the early pictures which represent her as nurs- 
ing the divine Infant (the subject called the Ver- 
ine Lattante), the utmost care is taken to veil the 
ust as much as possible. In the Spanish school 
the most vigilant censorship was exercised over all 
sacred pictures, and, with regard to the figures of 
the Virgin, the utmost decorum was required. 
“ What,” says Pacheco, ‘‘ can be more foreign to the 
respect which we owe to our Lady the Virgin, than 
to paint her sitting down with one of her knees 
placed over the other, and often with her sacred 
feet uncovered and naked? Let thanks be givey 


INTRODUCTION. 65 


to the Holy Inquisition, which commands that. this 

liberty should be corrected.” For this reason, per-_ 
haps, we seldom see the feet of the Virgin in Span- 

ish pictures.* Carducho speaks more particularly 

on the impropriety of painting the Virgin unshod, 

“since it is manifest that our Lady was in the 

habit of wearing shoes, as is proved by the much 

venerated relic of one of them from her divine feet 

at Burgos.” 

The Child in her arms is always, in the Greek 
and early pictures, clothed in a little tunic, gener 
ally white. In the fifteenth century he first ap- 
pears partly, and then wholly, undraped. Joseph, 
as the earthly sposo, wears the saffron-coloured man- 
tle over a gray tunic. In the later schools of art 
these significant colours are often varied, and some- 
times wholly dispensed with. 


Ul. DEVOTIONAL AND HISTORICAL REPRESEN- 
TATIONS. 


In this volume, as in the former ones, I have ad- 
hered to the distinction between the devotional and 
the historical representations. 

I class as devotional, all those which express a 
dogma merely; all the enthroned Madonnas, alone 
or surrounded by significant accessories or attend- 
ant saints; all the Mystical Coronations and Im- 
maculate Conceptions; all the Holy Families with 
eaints, and those completely ideal and _ votive 
groups, in which the appeal is made to the faith 

* Or in any of the old pictures till the seventeenth century. 
s¢Mandis que Dieu est toujours montré pieds nus, lui qui est de 
scendu a terre et a pris notre humaunité, Marie au contraire est 
constamment représentée les pieds perdus dans les plis trainants, 
nombreux et légers de sa robe virginale; elle, qui est elevée au 
Bessus de la terre et rapprochée de Dieu par sa pureté. Dieu 
montre par ses pieds nus qu’il a pris le corps de V’homme; 
Marie fait comprendre en les cachant qu’elle participe de Ja 
wwiritualité de Dieu.” 


66 INTRODUCTION. 


and piety of the observer. I shall give the char. 
acteristic details, in particular instances, further on. 

The altar-pieces in a Roman Catholic church are 
always either strictly devotional subjects, or, it 
may be, historical subjects (such as the Nativity) 
treated in adevotional sense. They are sometimes in 
several pieces or compartments. A Diptych is an 
altar-piece composed of two divisions or leaves, 
which are united by hinges, and close like a Look, 
Portable altar-pieces of a small size are generally 
in this form; and among the most valuable and 
curious remains of early religious art are the Greek 
and Byzantine Diptychs, sometimes painted, some- 
times carved in ivory.* A Triptych is an altar- 
piece in three parts; the two outer divisions or 
wings often closing as shutters over the central 
compartment. 

On the outside of the shutters or doors the An- 
nunciation was generally painted, as the mystery 
which opened the gates of salvation ; occasionally, 
also, the portraits of the votaries or donors. 

Complete examples of devotional representation 
occur in the complex and elaborate altar-pieces 
and windows of stained glass, which often com- 
pene a very significant scheme of theology.t 

give here plans of two of these old altar-pieces, 
which will assist the reader in elucidating the 
meaning of others. 

The first is the altar-piece in the Rinuecini 
Chapel in the church of the Santa Croce of 
Florence. It is necessary to premise that the 
ehapel was founded in honour of the Virgin and 


* Amorg the ‘‘ Casts from Ancient Ivory Carvings,” published 
y the Arundel Society, will be found some interesting and illus. 
‘rative examples, particularly Class III. Diptych 0, Class VII 

Diptyer ¢ and Triptych f, Class IX. Triptych k. 

¢ Still more important examples occur in the porches and ex 
ferior decoration of the old cathedrals, French and English 
which have escaped mutilation. These will be found explain 
vt length in the Fourth Series of Sacred and Legendary Art. 


INTRODUCTION. Ga 





Mary Magdalene; while the church is dedicated 
to the Holy Cross, and belongs to the Franciscans. 

The compartments are separated by wood-work 
most richly carved and gilt in the Gothic style, 
with twisted columns, pinnacles, and scrolls. The 
subjects are thus distributed. 

A. The Virgin and Child enthroned. She has 
the sun on her breast, the moon under her feet, the 
twelve stars over her head, and is attended by an- 
gels bearing the attributes of the cardinal virtues. 
B. St. John the Baptist. C. St. Francis. D. St. 
John Evangelist. EK. Mary Magdalene. 1. The 
Crucifixion, with the Virgin and St. John. 2, 
3, 4, 5. The four Evangelists with their books: 
half length, 6, 7. St. Peter and St. Paul: 
half length. 8, 9, 10, 11. St. ‘Thomas, St. 
Philip, St. James, and St. Andrew: half length. 
PP. The Predella. 12. The Nativity and Adora- 
tion of Magi. 13. St. Francis receives the Stig: 
mata. -14. Baptism of Christ. 15. The Vision of 
St. John in Patmos. 16. Mary Magdalene borne 
up by angels. Between the altar-piece and the 
redella runs the inscription in Gothic letters, AVE 

ELICISSIMIS VIRGO MARIA, SUCCURRE NOBIS 
Marerr Pia. mMcccLxxvitt. 

The second example is sketched from an altar- 


68 INTRODUCTION. 


piece painted for the suppressed convent of Santa 
Chiara, at Venice. It is six feet high, and eight 





feet wide, and the ornamental carving in which the 
subjects are enclosed particularly splendid and elab- 
orate. 

A. The Coronation of the Virgin, treated as a 
religious mystery, with choral angels. B. The Na- 
tivity of our Lord. C. The Baptism. D. The Last 
Supper. E. The Betrayal of Christ. F. The Pro- 
cession to Calvary, in which the Virgin is rudely 
pushed aside by the soldiers. G. The Crucifixion, 
as an event: John sustains the Virgin at the foot 
of the cross. H. The Resurrection and the Noli 
me tangere. J. Ascension. 1. Half-figure of Christ, 
with the hand extended in benediction: in the other 
hand the Gospel. 2. David. 3. Isaiah. 4, 5, 6, 
7. The four Evangelists standing. 8, 9, 11, 12. 
Scenes from the Life of St. Francis and St. Clara 
10. The Descent of the Holy Ghost. 13 The Last 
Judgment. 

It is to be regretted that so many of these altar. 
pieces have been broken up, and the detatched 
parts sold as separate pictures ; so that we may find 
ane compartment of an altar in a church at Rome, 
and another hanging in a drawing-room in London 
che upper part at Ghent, the lower half at Paris 


INTRODUCTION 69 


ene wing at Berlin, another at Florence. But 
where they exist as a whole, how solemn, signifi- 
cant, and instructive the arrangement! It may 
be read as we read a poem. Compare these with 
the groups round the enthroned Virgin in the later 
altar-pieces, where the saints elbow each other in 
attitudes, where mortal men sit with unseemly 
familiarity close to personages recognized as di- 
vine. As I have remarked further on, it is one of 
the most interesting speculations connected with the 
study of art, to trace this decline from reverence to 
irreverence, from the most rigid formula to the most 
fantastic caprice. The gradual disappearance of 
the personages of the Old Testament, the increas- 
ing importance given to the family of the Blessed 
Virgin, the multiplication of legendary subjects, and 
all the variety of adventitious, unmeaning, or mere- 
ly ornamental accessories, strike us just in propor- 
tion as a learned theology replaced the unreflect- 
ing, undoubting piety of an earlier age. 


The historical subjects comprise the events from 
the Life of the Virgin, when treated in a dramatic 
form; and all those groups which exhibit her in her 
merely domestic relations, occupied by cares for 
her divine Child, and surrounded by her parents 
and kindred, subjects which assume a pastoral and 
poetical rather than an historical form. 

All these may be divided into Scriptural and 
Legendary representations. The Scriptural scenes 
in which the Virgin Mary is a chief or important 
pereonaeys are the Annunciation, the Visitation, the 
Nativity, the Purification, the Adoration of the Magi, 
the Flight into Egypt, the Marriage at Cana, the 
Procession to Calvary, the Crucifixion (as related by 
St. John), and the Descent of the Holy Ghost. The 
Traditional and Legendary scenes are those taken 
from the apocryphal Scriptures, some of which have 
existed from the third century. The Legend of Joa: 


70 INTRUDUCIION. 


chim and Anna, the parents of the Virgin, with tha 
account of her early life, and her Marriage with Jo- 
peph, down to the Massacre of the Innocents, are 
taken trom the Gospel of Mary and the Protevan- 
gelion. ‘The scenes of the Flight into Egypt, the 
Repose on the Journey, and the Sojourn of the 
Holy Family at Hieropolis or Matarea, are taken 
from the Gospel of Infancy. The various scenes at- 
tending the Death and Assumption of the Virgin are 
derived from a Greek legendary poem, oncé atiribe 
uted to St. John the Evangelist, but the work, as it 
is supposed, of a certain Greek, named Meliton, whe 
lived in the ninth century, and who has merel 
dressed up in a more fanciful form ancient tradi- 
tions of the Church. Many of these historical 
scenes have been treated in a devotional style, ex- 
pga: not the action, but the event, taken in the 
ight of a religious mystery; a distinction which 1 
have fully explained in the following pages, where 
I have given in detail the legends on which these 
scenes are founded, and the religious significance 
tonveyed by the treatment. 

A complete series of the History of the Virgin 
begins with the rejection of her father Joachim 
from the temple, and ends with the assumption and 
coronation, including most of the events in the His- 
tory of our Lord (as for example, the series painted 
by Giotto, in the chapel of the Arena, at Padua) ; 
but there are many instances in which certain im- 
portant events relating to the Virgin only, as the 
principal person, are treated as a devotional series ; 
and such are generally found in the chapels and or- 
atories especially dedicated to her. A beautiful in 
stance is that of the Death of the Virgin, treated in 
a succession of scenes, as an event apart, and 
saat by Taddeo Bartolo, in the Chapel of the 

alazzo Publico, at Siena. This small chapel was 
dedicated to the Virgin soon after the terrible 
plague of 1348 had ceased, as it was believed, br 


INTRODUCTION. 74 


her intercession; so that this municipal chapel 
was at once an expression of thanksgiving, and 
a memorial of death, of suffering, of bereavement, 
and of hope in the resurrection. The frescoes 
cover one wall of the chapel, and are arranged 
in four scenes. 

1. Mary is reclining in her last sickness, and 
around her are the Apostles, who, according to the 
beautiful legend, were miraculously assembled te 
witness her departure. To express this, one of 
them is floating in as if borne on the air. St. John 
kneels at her feet, and she takes, with an expres- 
sion exquisitely tender and maternal, his two hands 
in hers. This action is peculiar to the Siena 
school.* 

2. She lies extended on her couch, surrounded 
by the weeping Apostles, and Christ behind re- 
ceives the parting soul, — the usual representation, 
but treated with the utmost sentiment. 

3. She is borne to the grave by the Apostles; in 
the background, the walls of the city of Jerusalem. 
Here the Greek legend of St. Michael protecting 
her remains from the sacrilegious Jew is omitted, 
and a peculiar sentiment of solemnity pervades the 
whole scene. 

4. The resurrection of the Virgin, when she rises 


* On each side of the principal door of the Cathedral at Siena, 
which is dedicated to ‘‘ Beata Virgine Assunta,’’ and just within 
the entrance, is a magnificent pilaster, of white marble, complete. 
ly covered from the base to the capital with the most luxuriant 
carving, arabesques, foliage, &c.,in an admirable and finished 
style. On the bases of these two pilasters are subjects from the 
Life of the Virgin, three on each side, and arranged, each subject 
on one side having its pendant on the other. 

1. The meeting of Joachim and Anna. 2. The Nativity of 
Mary. 3. Her sickness and last farewell to the Apostles; bend- 
tng towards St. John, she takes his hands in hers with the same 
tender expression as in the fresco by Taddeo Bartola. 4. She lies 
dead on her couch. 5. The Assumption. 6. The Coronation. 

The figures are about afoot in neight, delicately carved, full o 
that sentiment which is especially Sienese, and treated with 
ruly sculptura simplicity. 


{2 INTRODUCTION. 


from the tomb sustained by hovering angels, and is 
received by Christ. 

When I first saw these beautiful frescoes, in 1847, 
vhey were in a very ruined state; they have since 
peen restored in a very good style, and with a rev- 
erent attention to the details and expression. 

In general, however, the cycle commences either 
with the legend of Joachim and Anna, or with the 
Nativity of the Virgin, and ends with the assump- 
tion and coronation. A most interesting early ex- 
ample is the series painted in fresco by Taddeo 
Gaddi, in the Baroncelli Chapel at Florence. The 
subjects are arranged on two walls. ‘The first 
on the right hand, ‘and the second, opposite to us 
as we enter. 

1. Joachim is rejected from the Temple. 

2. He is consoled by the Angel. 

3. The meeting of Joachim and Anna. 

4. The Birth of the Virgin. 

5. The Presentation of the Virgin. She is here 
a child of about five years old; and having ascend- 
ed five steps (of the fifteen) she turns as if to bid 
farewell to her parents and companions, who stand 
below; while on the summit the High Priest, Anna 
the prophetess, and the maidens of the Temple 
come forward to receive her. 

6. The Marriage to Joseph, and the rage and 
disappointinent of the other suitors. 

The second wall is divided by a large window of 
the richest stained glass, on each side of which the 
supjects are arranged. 

7. The Annunciation. This is peculiar. Mary 
not throned or standing, but seated on the ground. 
with her hands clasped, and an expression bearitis 
ful for devotion and humility, looks upwards to the 
descending angel. 

8. The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth. 
9. The Annunciation to the Shepherds. 
10. The Nativity. 


INTRODUCTION. 74 


11. ‘The Wise Men behold the Star in the Form 
of a Child. 

12. They approach to Worship. Under the 
window is the altar, no longer used as such; and 
behind it a small but beautiful triptych of the Coro- 
nation of the Virgin, by Giotto, containing at least 
- a hundred heads of saints, angels, &c.; and on the: 
wall opposite is the large fresco of the Assump- 
tion, by Mainardi, in which St. Thomas receives 
the girdle, the other Apostles being omitted. This 
is of much later date, being painted about 1495. 

The series of five subjects in the Rinuccini Chap- 
el (in the sacristy of the same church) has been 
generally attributed to Taddeo Gaddi, but I agree 
with those who gave it to a different painter of 
the same period. 

The subjects are thus arranged:—1. The Re- 
jection of Joachim, which fills the whole arch at 
the top, and is rather peculiarly treated. On the 
right of the altar advances a company of grave- 
looking Elders, each with his offering. On the left, 
a procession of the matrons and widows “ who had 
been fruitful m Israel,” each with her lamb. In 
the centre, Joachim, with his lamb in his arms and 
an affrighted look, is hurrying down the steps. 2. 
The Lamentation of Joachim on the Mountain, and 
the Meeting of Joachim and Anna. 3. The Birth 
of the Virgin. 4. The Presentation in the Temple. 
5. The Sposalizio of the Virgin, with which the 
series concludes; every event referring to her di- 
vine Son, even the Annunciation, being omitted. 
On comparing these frescoes with those in the neigh- 
bouring chapel of the Baroncelli, the difference in 
feeling will be immediately felt; but they are very 
naive and elegant. 

About a hundred years later than these two ex- 
amples we have the celebrated series painted by 
Ghirlandajo, in the choir of S. Maria Novella at 
Florence. ‘Shere are three walls. On the princi- 


74 INTRODUCTION. 


pal wall, facing us as we enter, is the window; and 
around it the Annunciation (as a mystery), then 
the principal saints of the Order to whom the 
church belongs, — St. Dominic and St. Peter Mar- 
tyr, and the protecting saints of Florence. 

On the left hand (i.e. the right as we face the 
high altar) is the History of the Virgin ; on the op- 

osite side, the History of St. John the Baptist. 

he various cycles relating to St. John as patron 
of Florence will be fully treated in the last volume 
of Legendary Art; at present I shall confine myself 
to the beautiful set of subjects which relate the his- 
tory of the Virgin, and which the engravings of 
Lasinio (see the “Ancient Florentine Masters ”) 
have rendered well known to the lovers of art. 
They cover the whole wall, and are thus arranged, 
beginning from the lowest on the left hand. 

1. Joachim is driven from the Temple. 

2. The Birth of the Virgin. 

3. The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple. 

4. The Marriage of Joseph and Mary. 

5. The Adoration of the Magi (this is very much 
ruined). 

6. The Massacre of the Innocents. (This also 
is much ruined.) Vasari says it was the finest of 
all. It is very unusual to make this terrible and 
pathetic scene part of the life of the Virgin. 

7. In the highest and largest compartment, the 
Death and Assumption of the Virgin. 

Nearly contemporary with this fine series is that 
by Pinturicchio in the Church of S. Maria del Po- 

olo, at Rome (in the third chapel on the right). 
t is comprised in five lunettes round the ceiling, 
beginning with the Birth of the Virgin, and is re- 
markable for its elegance. 

About forty years after this series was completed 
the people of Siena, who had always been remark 
able for their devotion to the Virgin, dedicated t¢ 
eer honour the beautiful little chapel called the 


INTRODUCTION. 75 


Oratory of San Bernardino (v. Legends of the 
Monastic Orders), near the church of San Fran- . 
cesco, and belonging to the same Order, the Fran- 
eiscans. This chapel is an exact parallelogram and 
the frescoes which cover the four walls are thus ar- 
ranged above the wainscot, which rises about eight 
feet from the ground. 

1. Opposite the door as we enter, the Birth of 
the Virgin. The usual visitor to St. Anna is here 
a grand female figure, in voluminous drapery. 
The delight and exultation of those who minister 
to the new-born infant are expressed with the most 
graceful naiveté. This beautiful composition should 
be compared with those of Ghirlandajo and Andrea 
del Sarto in the Annunziata at Florence;* it 
yields to neither as a conception and is wholly dif- 
ferent. It is the work of a Sienese painter little 
known — Girolamo del Pacchio. 

2. The Presentation in the Temple, by G. A. 
Razzi. The principal scene is placed in the back- 
ground, and the little Madonna, as she ascends the 
steps, is received by the High Priest and Anna the 
prophetess. Her father and mother and groups of 
spectators fill the foreground ; here, too, is a very 
noble female figure on the right; but the whole 
composition is mannered, and wants repose and re- 
ligious feeling. 

3. The Sposalizio, by Beccafumi. The ceremo- 
ny takes place after the manner of the Jews, out- 
side the Temple. In a mannered, artificial style. 

4, 5. On one side of the altar, the Angel Ga- 
briel floating in—very majestic and angelic; on 
the other side the Virgin Annunziata, with that at- 
titude and expression so characteristic of the Siena 
School, as if shrinking from the apparition. These 


* This series, painted by Andrea and his scholars and com- 
panions, Franciabigio and Pontormo, is very remarkable as a 
work of art, but presents nothing new in regard to the choice 
and treatment of the subjects. 


76 INTRODUCTION. 


also are by Girolamo del Pacchio, and extremely 
fine. 

6. The enthroned Virgin and Child, by Bec- 
vafumi. ‘The Virgin is very fine and majestic; 
around her throne stand and kneel the guardian 
saints of Siena and the Franciscan Order: St. 
Francis, St. Antony of Padua, St. Bernardino, 
St. Catherine of Siena, St. Ansano, St. John B., 
St. Louis. (St. Catherine, as patroness of Siena, 
takes here the place usually given to St. Clara in 
the Franciscan pictures.) 

7. The Visitation. Very fine and rather pecu- 
liar; for here Elizabeth bends over Mary as wei- 
coming her, while the other inclines her head as 
accepting hospitality. By Razzi. 

8. The Death of the Virgin. Fourteen figures, 
among which are four females lamenting, and St. 
John bearing the palm. The attitude and expres- 
sion of Mary, composed in death, are very fine: 
and Christ, instead of standing, as usual, by the 
couch, with her parting soul in his arms, comes 
rushing down from above with arms outspread to 
receive it. 

9. The Assumption. Mary, attired all in white, 
rises majestically. ‘The tomb is seen beneath, out 
of which grow two tall lilies amid white roses; the 
Apostles surround it, and St. Thomas receives the 
girdle. ‘This is one of the finest works of Razzi, 
and one of the purest in point of sentiment. 

10. The Coronation, covering the whole wall 
which faces the altar, is by Razzi; it is very pecu- 
liar and characteristic. ‘The Virgin, all in white, 
and extremely fine, bending gracefully, receives 
her crown; the other figures have that vulgarity of 
expression which belonged to the artist, and is often 
so oddly mingled with the sentiment and grandeur 
of his school and time. On the right of the princi 
pal group stands St. John B.; on the left, Adam 
and Eve; and behind the Virgin, her mother, St 


INTRODUCTION. 77 


Anna, which is quite peculiar, and the only in- 
stance I can remember. 


It appears therefore that the Life of the Virgin 
Mary, whether treated as a devotional or historical 
series, forms a kind of pictured drama in successive 
scenes ; sometimes comprising only six or eight of 
the principal events of her individual life, as her 
birth, dedication, marriage, death, and assumption : 
sometimes extending to forty or fifty subjects, and 
combining her history with that of her divine Son. 
I may now direct the attention of the reader to a 
few other instances remarkable for their beauty 
and celebrity. 

Giotto, 1320. In the chapel at Padua styled la 
Capella dell’ Arena. One of the finest and most 
complete examples extant, combining the Life of 
the Virgin with that of her Son. This series is of 
the highest value, a number of scenes and situations 
-saggested by the Scriptures being here either ex- 
pressed for the first time, or in a form unknown in 
the Greek school.* 

Angiolo Gaddi, 1380. ‘The series in the cathe- 
dral at Prato. ‘These comprise the history of the 
Holy Girdle. 

Andrea Orcagna, 1373. The beautiful series of 
bas-reliefs on the shrine in Or-San-Michele, at 
Florence. 

Nicolé da Modena, 1450. Perhaps the eariiest 
engraved example: very remarkable for the ele- 
gance of the motifs and the imperfect execution, 
engraving on copper being then a new art. 

Albert Durer. The beautiful and well-known 


* Vide Kugler’s Handbook, p. 129. He observes, that ‘‘ the 
Introduction of the maid-servant spinning, in the story of St. 
Anna, oversteps the limits of the higher ecclesiastical style.” 
For an explanation I must refer to che story as I have given it at 
song See, for the distribution of the subjects in this chapel, 

rd Lindsay’s ‘‘ Christian Art,’ vol. ii. A set of the subjects 
has since been published by the Arundel Society. 


78 INTRODUCTION. 


set of twenty-five wood-cuts, published in 1510. A 
perfect example of the German treatment. 

Bernardino Luini, 1515. A series of frescoes of 
the highest beauty, painted for the monastery Della 
Pace. Unhappily we have only the fragments 
which are preserved in the Brera. 

The series of bas-reliefs on the outer shrine of 
the Casa di Loretto, by Sansovino, and others of 
the greatest sculptors of the beginning of the six- 
teenth century. 

The series of bas-reliefs round the choir at Milan: 
seventeen subjects. 


We often find the Seven Joys and the Seven __ 
Sorrows of the Virgin treated as a series. ry 
~The Seven Joys are, the Annunciation, the Visi- 
tation, the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, the 
Presentation in the Temple, Christ found by his 
Mother, the Assumption and Coronation. 

The Seven Sorrows are, the Prophecy of Simeon, 
the Flight into Egypt, Christ lost by his Mother, the 
Betrayal of Christ, the Crucifixion (with St. John 
and the Virgin only present), the Deposition from 
the Cross, the Ascension when the Virgin is left 
on earth. 

The Seven Joys and Sorrows are frequently 
found in altar-pieces and religious prints, arranged 
in separate compartments, round the Madonna in 


~The five Joyful Mysteries, are the Annunciation, 


* Altogether, on a careful consideration of this picture, I do 
sot consider the title by which it is generally known as appro- 
priate. It contains many groups which would not enter int¢ 
the mystic joys or sorrows; for instance, the Massacre of the In 
uocents, Christ at Emmaus, the Noli me tangere, and cthers 


INTRODUCTION. 73 


the Visitation, the Nativity, the Purification, and 
Christ found in the Temple. 

The five Dolorous or Sorrowful Mysteries are; 
our Lord in the Garden of Olives, the Flagellation, 
Christ crowned with Thorns, the Procession to Cal- 
vary, the Crucifixion. 

The five Glorious Mysteries are, the Resurrec- 
tion, the Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Ghost, 
the Assumption, the Coronation. 

A series of subjects thus arranged cannot be 
called strictly historical, but partakes of the mys: 
tical and devotional character. The purpose being 
to excite devout meditation, requires a particulat 
sentiment, frequently distinguished from the merely 
dramatic and historical trc tment in being accom- 
panied by saints, votaries, and circumstances purely 
ideal; as where the Wise Men bring their offerings, 
while St. Luke sits in a corner painting the portrait 
of the Virgin, and St. Dominick kneels in adora- 
tion of the Mystery (Mabuse, Munich Gal.) ;— and 
in a hundred other examples. 


IY. TITLES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 


Of the various titles given to the Virgin Mary, 
and thence to certain effigies and pictures of her, 
some appear to me very touching, as expressive of 
the wants, the aspirations, the infirmities and sor- 
rows, which are common to poor suffering human- 
ity, or of those divine attributes from which they 
hoped to find aid and consolation. Thus we 
have — 

Santa Maria “del buon Consilio.” Our Lady of 
good Counsel. 

S. M. “del Soccorso.”. Our Lady of Succour. 
Our Lady of the Forsaken. 

S M. “del buon Core.” Our Lady of good 
Heart. 


BO INTRODUCTION. 


S. M. “della Grazia.” Our Lady of Grace. 

S. M. “di Misericordia.” Our Lady of Mercy. 

S. M. “ Auxilium Afflictorum.” Help of the Af 
flicted. 

S. M. “ Refugium Peccatorum.” Refuge of Sin- 
ners. 

S. M. “del Pianto,” “del Dolore.” Our Lady- 
of Lamentation, or Sorrow. 

S. M. “ Consolatrice,” “ della Consolazione,” or 
“del Conforto.” Our Lady of Consolation. 

S. M. “della Speranza.” Our Lady of Hope. 

Under these and similar titles she is invoked by 
the afflicted, and often represented with her ample 
robe outspread and upheld by angels, with votaries 
and suppliants congregated beneath its folds. In 
Spain, Nuestra Sefora de la Merced is the patron- 
ess of the Order of Mercy; and in this character 
she often holds in her hand small tablets bearing 
the badge of the Order. (Legends of the Monastic 
Orders, 2d edit. ) 

S. M. “della Liberta,” or “ Liberatrice,” Our 
Lady of Liberty; and S. M. “della Catena,” Our 
Lady of Fetters. In this character she is invoked 
by prisoners and captives. 

S. M. “del Parto,” Our Lady of Good Delivery, 
invoked by women in taavail.* 

S. M. “ del Popolo.” Our Lady of the People. 

S. M. “della Vittoria.” Our Lady of Victory. 

S. M. “ della Pace.” Our Lady of Peace. 

S. M. “ della Sapienza,” Our Lady of Wisdom ; 
and S. M. “della Perseveranza,” Our Lady of 
Perseverance. (Sometimes placed in colleges 
with a book in her hand, as patroness of stu: 
pent 
S. M. “della Salute.” Our Lady of Health o1 


* Dante alludes to her in this character: — 


‘per ventura udi ‘ Dolce Maria!’ 
Dinanzi a noi chiamar cosi nel pianto 
Come fa donna che ’n partorir sia.””— Purg. ¢. 2 





INTRODUCTION. 81 


Salvation. Under this title pictures and churches 
nave been dedicated after the cessation of a plague, 
pr any other public calamity.* : 

Other titles are derived from particular circum- 
stances and accessories, as — 

S. M. “del Presepio,” Our Lady of the Cradle ; 
generally a Nativity, or when she is adoring her 
Child. 

S. M. “della Scodella” — with the cup or por 
cinger, where she is taking water from a fountain 
generally a Riposo. 

S. M. * dell’ Libro,” where she holds the Book 
of Wisdom. 

S. M. “della Cintola,” Our Lady of the Girdle, 
where she is either giving the Girdle to St. Thomas, 
sr where the Child holds it in his hand. 

S. M. “ della Lettera.” Our Lady of the Letter. 
his is the title given to Our Lady as protectress 
of the city of Messina. According to the Sicilian 
legend, she honoured the people of Messina by 
writing a letter to them, dated from Jerusalem, “in 
the year of her Son, 42.” In the effigies of the 
% Madonna della Lettera,” she holds this letter in 
her hand. 

S. M. “della Rosa.” Our Lady of the Rose. A 
title given to several pictures, in which the rose, 
which is consecrated to her, is placed either in her 
hand, or in that of the Child. 

S. M. “della Stella.” Our Lady of the Star. 
She wears the star as one of her attributes em- 
broidered on her mantle. 

S. M. “del Fiore.” Our Lady of the Flower. 
She has this title especially as protectress of Flor- 
ence. 

S. M. “della Spina.” She holds in her hand the 
trown of thorns, and under this title is the protec- 
ress of Pisa. 


* There is also somewhere in France a chapel dedicated te 
Notre Dame de la Haine 


B2 INTRODUCTION. 


S. M. “ del Rosario.” Our Lady of the Rosary, 
with the mystic string of beads. I do not remem- 
ber any instance of the Rosary placed in the hand 
of the Virgin or the Child till after the battle ef 
Lepanto (1571), and the institution of the Festival 
of the Rosary, as an act of thanksgiving. After 
this time pictures of the Madonna “ del Rosario ” 
abound, and may generally be found in the Domin- 
ican churches. ‘There is a famous example by 
Guido in the Bologna Gallery, and a very beau- 
tiful one by Murillo in the Dulwich Gallery. 

S. M. “del Carmine.” Our Lady of Mount 
Carmel. She is protectress of the Order of the 
Carmelites, and is often represented holding in her 
hand small tablets, on which is the effigy of herself 
with the Child. 

S. M. “de Belem.” Our Lady of Bethlehem. 
Under this title she is the patroness of the Jerony- 
nites, principally in Spain and Portugal. 

S. M. “della Neve.” Our Lady of the Snow. 
In Spain, 8. Maria la Blanca. To this legend of 
the snow the magnificent church of S. M. Maggiore 
at Rome is said to owe its origin. A certain Roman 
patrician, whose name was John (Giovanni Patri- 
cio), being childless, prayed of the Virgin to direct 
him how best to bestow his worldly wealth. She 
appeared to him in a dream on the night of the — 
fifth of August, 352, and commanded him to build 
a church in her honour, on a spot where snow 
would be found the next morning. The same 
vision having appeared to his wife and the reign- 
ing pope, Liberius, they repaired in procession the 
next morning to the summit of Mount Esquiline, 
where, notwithstanding the heat of the weather, a 
large patch of ground was miraculously covered 
with snow, and on it Liberius traced out with his 
erosier the plan of the church. This story has 
veen often represented in art, and is easily rec- 
wgnized; but it is curious that the two mos‘ 


INTRODUCTION. 8f 


veautiful pictures consecrated to the honour of 
the Madonna della Neve are Spanish and not 
Roman, and were painted by Murillo about the 
time that Philip 1V. of Spain sent rich offerings 
to the church of S. M. Maggiore, thus giving a 
kind of popularity to the legend. The picture 
represents the patrician John and his wife asleep, 
and the Vision of the Virgin (one of the lovelies* 
ever painted by Murillo) breaking upon them in 
splendour through the darkness of the night; while 
in the dim distance is seen the Esquiline (or what 
is meant for it) covered with snow. In the second 
picture, John and his wife are kneeling before the 
pope, “a grand old ecclesiastic, like one of Titian’s 
ae These pictures, after being carried off 
y the French from the little church of S. M. la 
Blanca at Seville, are now in the royal gallery at 
Madrid. 

S. Maria “di Loretto.” Our Lady of Loretto. 
The origin of this title is the famous legend of the 
Santa Gasa, the house at Nazareth, which was the 
birthplace of the Virgin, and the scene of the An- 
nunciation. During the incursions of the Saracens, 
the Santa Casa being threatened with profanation, 
if not destruction, was taken up by the angels and 
conveyed over land and sea till it was set down on 
the coast of Dalmatia; but not being safe there, 
the angels again took it up, and, bearing it over 
the Adriatic, set it down in a grove near Loretto. 
But certain wicked brigands having disturbed its 
sacred quietude by strife and murder, the house 
again changed its place, and was at length set 
down on the spot where it now stands. The date 
of this miracle is placed in 1295. 

The Madonna di Loretto is usually represented 
as seated with the divine Child on the roof of a 
house, which is sustained at the corners Dy four 
angels, and thus borne over sea and land. From 
me celebrity of Loretto as a place of pilgrimage 


B4 INTRODUCTION. 


this representation became popular, and is oftex 
found in chapels dedicated to our Lady of Loretto 
Another effigy of our Lady of Loretto is merely a 
copy of a very old Greek “ Virgin and Child,” 
which is enshrined in the Santa Casa. 

S. M. “del Pillar,” Our Lady of the Pillar, is 
protectress of Saragossa. According to the Legend, 
she descended from heaven standing on an alabas+ — 
ter pillar, and thus appeared to St. James (Sane 
tiago) when he was preaching the gospel in Spain. 
The miraculous pillar is preserved in the cathedral 
of Saragossa, and the legend appears frequently in 
Spanish art. Also in a very inferior picture by 
Nicolo Poussin, now in the Louvre. 


Some celebrated pictures are individually distix. 
guished by titles derived from some particular ob 
ject in the composition, as Raphael’s Madonna de. | 
Impannata, so called from the window in the back. 
ground being partly shaded with a piece of linen 
(in the Pitti Pal., Florence); Correggio’s Vierge 
au Panier, so called from the work-basket which 
stands beside her (in our Nat. Gal.) ; Murillo’s 
Virgen de la Servilleta, the Virgin of the Napkin, 
in allusion to the dinner napkin on which it was 

ainted.* Others are denominated from certain 
ocalities, as the Madonna di Foligno (ow in the 
Vatican); others from the names of families te 
whom tuey have belonged, as La Madonna della 


Famiglia Staffa, at Perugia. 


Those visions and miracles with which the Vir 
gin Mary favoured many of the saints, as St. Luke 
(who was her secretary and painter), St. Cathe- 
tine, St. Francis, St. Herman, and others, have 


* There is a beautiful engraving in Stirling’s ‘‘ Annals of the 
artists of Spain.”’ 


INTRODUCTION. 85 


already been related in the former volumes, ana 
need not be repeated here. 

With regard to the churches dedicated to the. 
Virgin, I shall not attempt to enumerate even the 
most remarkable, as almost every town in Christian 
Europe contains one or more bearing her name. 
The most ancient of which tradition speaks, was a 
chapel beyond the Tiber, at Rome, which is said to 
have been founded in 217, on the site where S. 
Maria in Trastevere now stands. But there are 
one or two which carry their pretensions much 
higher; for the cathedral at Toledo and the cathe- 
dral at Chartres both claim the honour of having 
been dedicated to the Virgin while she was yet 
alive.* 


Brief and inadequate as are these introductory 
notices, they will, I hope, facilitate the comprehen- 
sion of the critical details into which it has been 
necessary to enter in the following pages, and lend 
some new interest to the subjects described. I have 
heard the artistic treatment of the Madonna styled 
a monotonous theme; and to those who see only 
the perpetual iteration of the same groups on the 
walls of churches and galleries, varied as they may 
suppose only by the fancy of the painter, it may 
seem so. But beyond the visible forms, there lies 
much that is suggestive to a thinking mind —to the 
lover of Art a higher significance, a deeper beauty, 
« more various interest, than could at first be imag- 
ined. 

In fact, the greatest mistakes in point of taste 
arise in general from not knowing what we ought 
‘o demand of the artist, not only in regard to the 
subject expressed, but with reference to the times 


* In England we have 2,120 churches dedicated in her hon- 
eur; and one of the largest and most important of the Londow 
karishes bears her name — ‘St. Marie-la-bonne ” > 


86 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 


in which he lived, and his own individuality. An 
axiom which I have heard confidently set forth, that 
a picture is worth nothing unless “he who runs 
may read,” has inundated the world with frivolous 
and pedantic criticism. A picture or any other 
work of Art, is worth nothing except in so far as it 
has emanated from mind, and is addressed to mind. 
It’ should, indeed, be read like a book. Pictures, 
as it has been well said, are the books of the-unlet- 
tered, but then we must at least understand the 
language in which they are written. And further, 
— if, in the old times, it was a species of idolatry to 
regard these beautiful representations as endued 
with a specific sanctity and power; so, in these 
days, it is a sort of atheism to look upon them reck- 
less of their significance, regardless of the influ- 
ences through which they were produced, without 
acknowledgment of the mind which called them 
into being, without reference to the intention of the 
artist in his own creation. 


SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES TO THE SEC. 
OND EDITION. 


I. 


In the first edition of this work, only a passing 
allusion was made to those female effigies, by some 
styled “da donna orante” (the Praying Woman) 
and by others supposed to represent Mary the 
Mother of our Lord, of which so many examples 
exist in the Catacombs and in the sculptured 
Sag on the ancient Christian sarcophagi. I 

now it has long been a disputed, or at least ap 
ansettled and doubtful point, as to whether certain 
female figures existing on the earliest Christiay 


SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. BT 


monuments were or were not intended to represent 
the Virgin Mary. ‘The Protestants, on the one 
hand, as if still inspired by that superstition against 
superstition which led to the violent and vulgar de- 
struction of so many beautiful works of art, and 
the Catholics on the other, jealous to maintain the 
authenticity of these figures as a testimony to the 
ancient worship of the Virgin, both appear to me 
to have taken an exaggerated and prejudiced view 
ot a subject which ought to be considered dispas- 
sionately on purely antiquarian and critical grounds. 
Having had the opportunity, during a late resis 
dence in Italy, of reconsidering and comparing a 
great number of these antique representations, and 
having heard the opinions of antiquarians, theolo- 
gians, and artists, who had given their attention to 
the subject, and who occasionally differed from 
each other as to the weight of evidence, I have 
arrived at the conviction, that some of these effigies 
represent the Virgin Mary, and others do not. I 
confess I do not believe .n any authentic represen- 
tation of the Virgin holding the Divine Child older 
than the sixth century, except when introduced 
into the groups of the Nativity and the Worship 
of the Magi. Previous to the Nestorian contro- 
versy, these maternal effigies, as objects of devo- 
tion, were, I still believe, unknown, but I cannot 
understand why there should exist among Protes- 
tants, so strong a disposition to discredit every rep- 
resentation of Mary the Mother of our Lord to 
which a high antiquity had been assigned by the 
Roman Catholics. We know that as early as the 
second century, not only symbolical figures of our 
Lord, but figures of certain personages of holy life, 
as St. Peter and St. Paul, Agnes the Roman, and 
Euphemia the Greek, martyr, did certainly exist. 
The critical and historical testimony I have given 
elsewhere. (Sacred and Legendary Art.) Why 
therefore should there not have existed effigies of 


B8 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 


the Mother of Christ, of the “Woman _ highly 
blessed,” the subject of so many prophecies, and 
naturally the object of a tender and just venera- 
tion among the early Christians? It seems to me 
that nothing could be more likely, and that such 
representations ought to have a deep interest for 
all Christians, no matter of what denomination — 
for all, in truth, who believe that the Saviour of 
the world had a good Mother, His only earthly 
parent, who brought Him forth, nurtured and loved 
Him. That it should be considered a point of 
faith with Protestants to treat such memorials with 
incredulity and even derision, appears to me most 
inconsistent and unaccountable, though I confess 
that between these simple primitive memorials and 
the sumptuous tasteless column and image recently 
erected at Rome there is a very wide margin of 
disputable ground, of which I shall say no more in 
this place. But to return to the antique concep- 
tion of the “Donna orante” or so-called Virgin 
Mother, I will mention here only the most remark- 
able examples; for to enter fully into the subject 
would occupy a volume in itself. 

There is a figure often met with in the Cata- 
combs and on the sarcophagi of a majestic woman 
standing with outspread arms (the ancient attitude 
of prayer), or holding a book or scroll in her hand. 
When this figure stands alone and unaccompanied 
by any attribute, I think the signification doubtful: 
but in the Catacomb of St. Ciriaco there is a 
painted figure of a woman, with arms outspread 
and sustained on each side by figures, evidently St. 
Peter and St. Paul; on the sarcophagi the same 
figure frequently occurs; and there are other ex- 
amples certainly not later than the third and fourth 
ventury. That these represent Mary the Mother 
of Christ I have not the least doubt; I think it has 
seen fully demonstrated that no other Christian 
woman could have been so represented, consider 


SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 89 


mg the manners and habits of the Christian com- 
munity at that period. Then the attitude and type 
are precisely similar to those of the ancient Byzan- - 
tine Madonnas and the Italian mosaics of Eastern 
workmanship, proving, as I think, that there ex- 
isted a common traditicnal original for this figure, 
the idea of which has been preserved and trans 
mitted in these early copies. 

Further: — there exist in the Roman museums 
many fragments of ancient glass found in the 
Christian tombs, on which are rudely pictured in 
colours figures exactly similar, and having the name 
MARIA inscribed above them. On one of these 
fragments I found the same female figure between 
two male figures, with the names inscribed over 
them, MARIA. PETRVS. PAVLVS., generally 
in the rudest and most imperfect style, as if issuing 
from some coarse manufacture; but showing that 
they have had a common origin with those far 
superior figures in the Catacombs and on the sar- 
cophagi, while the inscribed names leave no doubt 
as to the significance. 

On the other hand, there are similar fragments 
of coarse glass found in the Catacombs — either 
lamps or small vases, bearing the same female in 
the attitude of prayer, and superscribed in rude 
letters, DULCIS ANIMA PIE ZESES VIVAS. (ZESES 
instead of Jesus.) Such may, possibly, represent, 
not the Virgin Mary, but the Christian matron or 
martyr buried in the tomb; at least, I consider 
them as doubtful. 

The Cavaliere Rossi, whose celebrity as an anti- 
quarian is not merely Italian, but European, and 
whose impartiality can hardly be doubted, told me 
that a Christian sarcophagus had lately been dis- 
zovered at Saint-Maxime, in the south of France, 
on which there is the same group of the female 
igure praying, and over it the name MARIA. 

T ought to‘add, that on one of these sarcophagi, 


90 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 


bearing the oft repeated subject of the good Shep: 
herd feeding His sheep, I found, as the companion 
group, a female figure in the act of feeding birds 
which are fluttering to her feet. It is not doubted 
that the good Shepherd is the symbol of the benefi- 
cent Christ; whether the female figure represent 
the Virgin-mother, or is to be regarded merely as 
a general symbol of female beneficence, placed on 
a par with that of Christ (in His human mee 
I wii not pretend to decide. It is equally touc 
ing and beautiful in either significance. 

Three examples of these figures occur to me. 

The first is from a Christian sarcophagus of early 
date, and in a good style of art, probably of the 
third century — it is a noble figure, in the attitude 
of prayer, and separated from the other groups by 
a palm-tree on each side—at her feet is a bird 
(perhaps a dove, the ancient symbol of the released 
soul), and scrolls which represent the gospel. I 
regard this figure as doubtful; it may possibly be 
the effigy of a Christian matron, who was interred 
in the sarcophagus. 

The second example is also from a sareophagus. 
It is a figure holding a scroll of the gospel, and 
standing between St. Peter and St. Paul; on each 
side (in the original) there are groups expressing 
the beneficent miracles of our Lord. This figure, 
I believe, represents the Virgin Mary. 

In the third example, the conspicuous female 
figure is combined with the series of groups on 
each side. She stands with hands outspread, in 
the attitule of prayer, between the two apostles, 
who seem to sustain her arms. On one side is the 
uiracle of the water changed into wine; on the 
other side, Christ healing the woman who touched 
His garment; both of perpetual recurrence in these 
sculptures. Of these groups of the miracles and 
actions of Christ on the early Christian sarcophagi, 
{ shall give a full account in the “ History of our 


e 


SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. Be 


Lord, as illustrated in the fine arts;” at present I 
confine myself to the female figure which takes 
this conspicuous place, while other female figures 
are prostrate, or of a diminutive size, to express 
their humility or inferiority; and I have no doubt 
that thus situated it is intended to represent the 
woman who was highly honoured as weit as highly 
blessed —the Mother of our Saviour. 

I have come therefore to the conciusion, that 
while many of these figures have a ecrtain signifi 
cance, others are uncertain. Where the figure is 
isolated, or placed within a frame or border, like 
the memorial busts and effigies on the Pagan sar- 
cophagi, I think it may be regarded as probably 
commemorating the Christian martyr or matron 
entombed in the sarcophagus; but when there is 
no division, where the figure forms part of a contin- 
uous series of groups, expressing the character and 
miracles of Christ, I believe that it represents His 
‘ mother. 


II. 


The BorGurse CHAPEL, in the church of St. 
Maria Maggiore at Rome, was dedicated to the 
honour of the Virgin Mary by Paul V. (Borghese), 
in 1611 —the same Pope who in 1615 promulgated 
the famous Bull relative to the Immaculate Con- 
ception. The scheme of decoration in this gor- 
geous chapel is very remarkable, as testifying to the 
development which the theological idea of the Vire 
gin, as the Sposa or personified Church, had at- 
tained at this period, and because it is not, as in 
ather examples, either historical or devotional, but 
purely doctrinal. 

As we enter, the profusion of ornament, the 
splendour of colour, marbles, gilding, from the pave- 
ment under our feet to the summit of the lofty 
dome, are really dazzling. First, and elevated 
ubove all, we have the “ Madonna della Counce 


A? SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 


rione,” Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, 
in a glory of light, sustained and surrounded by 
angels, having the crescent under her feet, accords 
ing to the approved treatment. Beneath, round 
the dome, we read in conspicious letters the text 
from the Revelations: —SIGNUM. MAGNUM. AP- 
PARAVIT. IN C&LO. MULIER. AMIOTA. SOLE. ET. 
LUNA. SUB. PEDIBUS. EJUS. ET. IN CAPITE. EJUS. 
CORONA. STELLARUM. DuoprEcim. (Rev. xii. 1.) 
Lower down is a second inscription, expressing the 
dedication. Maria. CHRISTI. MATRI. SEMPER. 
VIRGINI. PAULUS. QuiInTUS. P.M. The decora- 
tions beneath the cornice consist of eighteen large 
frescoes, and six statues in marble, above life size. 
Beginning with the frescoes, we have the subjects 
arranged in the following order: — 

1. The four great prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel, and Daniel, in their usual place in the 
four pendentives of the dome. (v. The Introduction.) 

2. Two large frescoes. In the first, the Vision of 
St. Gregory Thaumaturgus,* and Heretics bitten 
by Serpents. In the second, St. John Damascene 
and St. Ildefonso miraculously rewarded for de- 
fending the Majesty of the Virgin. (Sacred and 
Legendary Art.) 

3. A large fresco, representing the four Doctors 
of the Church who had especially written in honour 
of the Virgin: viz. Ireneus and Cyprian, Ignatius 
and Theophilus, grouped two and two. 

4. St. Luke, who painted the Virgin, and whose 
gospel contains the best account of her. 

5. As spiritual conquerors in the name of the 
Virgin, St. Dominic and St. Francis, each attended 
py two companions of his Order. 

6. As military conquerors in the name of the 


* St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bishop of Pontus in the third 
century, was favoured by a vision of the Trinity, which enabled 
him to confute and utterly subdue the Sabellian heretics — the 
Vnitarians of his time. 


> 


SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 93 


Yaga, v.e Emperor Heraclius, and Narses. the 
reneral against the Arians. . 
7. A group of three female figures, representing 
the three famous saintly princesses who in marriage 
reserved their virginity, Pulcheria, Edeltruda (our 
famous queen Hthelreda), and Cunegunda. (For 
the legends of Cuneeunda and Ethelreda, see Le- 

gends of the Monastic Orders. 

8. A group of three learned Bishops, who had 
aspecially defended the immaculate purity of the 
Virgin, St. Cyril, St. Anselm, and St. Denis (?). 

9. The miserable ends of those who were o 
posed to the honour of the Virgin. 1. The death 
of Julian the Apostate, very oddly represented ; 
he lies on an altar, transfixed by an arrow, as a 
victim; St. Mercurius in the air. (For this legend 
see Sacred and Legendary Art.) 2. The death 
of Leo IV., who destroyed the effigies of the Vir- 
gin. 3. The death of Constantine IV., also a 
famous iconoclast. 

The statues which are placed in niches are — 

1, 2. St. Joseph, as the nominal husband, and 
St. John the Evangelist, as the nominal son of the 
Virgin; the latter, also, as prophet and poet, with 
reference to the passage in the Revelation, ¢. xii. 1. 

3,4. Aaron, as priestly ancestor (because his 
wand blossomed), and David, as kingly ancestor 
of the Virgin. 

5,6. St. Dionysius the Areopagite, who was 
present at the death of the Virgin, and St. Ber- 
nard, who composed the famous “ Salve Regina ” in 
her honour. 

Such is this grand systematic scheme of decora- 
sion, which, to those who regard it cursorily, is 
merely a sumptuous confusion of colours and forms, 
or at best, “a fine example of the Guido school 
and Bernino.” It is altogether a very complete 
and magnificent specimen of the prevalent style of 
art, and a very comprehensive and suggestive 3x 

q 


b4 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 


pression of the prevalent tendency of thought, in 
the Roman Catholic Church from the beginning of 
she seventeenth century. In no description of th's 
chapel have [ ever seen the names and subjects 
accurately given: the style of art belongs to the 
decadence, and the taste being worse than question- 
able, the pervading doctrinal idea has been neg- 
lected, or never understood. 


Il. 


Those pictures which represent the Virgin Mary 
kneeling before the celestial throne, while the 
PaprE Errerno or the Messran extends his 
hand or his sceptre towards her, are generally mis- 
understood. ‘They do not represent the Assump- 
tion, nor yet the reception of Mary in Heaven, as 
is usually supposed; but the election or predestina- 
tion of Mary as the immaculate vehicle or taber- 
nacle of human redemption—the earthly parent 
of the divine Saviour. I have described such a 
picture by Dosso Dossi, and another by Cottignola. 
A third example may be cited in a yet more beau- 
tiful and celebrated picture by Francia, now in the 
Church at San Frediano at Lucca. Above, in the 
glory of Heaven, the Virgin kneels before the 
throne of the Creator; she is clad in regal attire 
of purple and crimson and gold; and she bends 
her fair crowned head, and folds her hands upon 
her bosom with an expression of meek yet digni- 
fied resignation —‘ Behold the handmaid of the 
Lord !” — accepting, as woman, that highest glory, 
as mcther, that extremest grief, to which the Divine 
will, as spoken by the prophets of old, had called 
her. Below, on the earth and to the right hand, 
stand David and Solomon, as prophets and kingly 
ancestors: on the left hand, St. Augustine and St. 
Anselm in their episcopal robes. (1 have men 
tioned, with regard to the office in honour of the 


SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 95 


Immacu.ate Conception, that the idea is said to 
have originated in England. I should also have 
added, that Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
was its strenuous advocate.) Each of these per- 
sonages holds a scroll. On that of David the 
reference is to the 4th and 5th verses of Psalm 
xxvil.— “In the secret of his tabernacle he shall 
hide me.” On that of Solomon is the text from his 
Song, ch. iv. 7. On that of St. Augustine, a quo- 
tation, I presume, from his works, but difficult to 
make out; it seems to be, “Jn celo qualis est 
Pater, talis est Filius; qualis est Filius, talis est 
Mater.” On that of St. Anselm the same inscrip- 
tion which is on the picture of Cottignola quoted 
before, “non puto vere esse,” &c., which is, I sup- 
pose, taken from his works. In the centre, St. 
Anthony of Padua kneels beside the sepulchre 
full of lilies and roses; showing the picture to have 
been painted for, or under the influence of, the 
Franciscan Order; and, like other pictures of the 
same class, “an attempt to express in a visible 
form the idea or promise of the redemption of the 
human race, as existing in the Sovereign Eternal 
Mind before the beginning of the world.” This 
altar-piece has no date, but appears to have been 
te about the same time as the picture in our 

ational Gallery (No. 179.), which came from the 
same church. As a work of art it is most wonder- 
fully beautiful. The editors of the last excellent 
edition of Vasari speak of it with just enthusiasm 
as “ Opera veramente stupenda in ogni parte!” 
The predella beneath, painted in chiaro-oscuro, is 
also of exquisite beauty; and let us hope that we 
shall never see it separated from the great subject, 
like a page or a paragraph torn out of a book bv 
‘gnorant and childish collectors. 


36 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES: 


IV. 


Although the Nativity of the Virgin Mary is one 
of the great festivals of the Roman Catholic Churck, 
I have seldom seen it treated as a separate subject 
and an altar-piece. There is, however, a very re- 
markable example in the Belle Arti at Siena. It 
is a triptych enclosed in a framework elaborately 
carved and gilt, in the Gothic style. In the centre 
compartment, St. Anna lies on a rich couch covered 
with crimson drapery; a graceful female presents 
an embroidered napkin, others enter, bringing re- 
freshments, as usual. In front, three attendants 
minister to the Infant: one of them is in an atti- 
tude of admiration; on the right, Joachim seated, 
with white hair and beard, receives the congratu- 
lations of a young man who seems to envy his pa- 
ternity. In the compartment on the right stand 
St. James Major and St. Catherine; on the left, 
St. Bartholomew and St. Elizabeth of Hungary (?). 
This picture is in the hard primitive style of the 
fourteenth century, by an unknown painter, who 
must have lived before Giovanni di Paolo, but viv- 
idly coloured, exquisitely finished, and full of sent 
ment and dramatic feeling. 


DEVOTIONAL SUBJECTS. 
pty 


PART I. 
THE VIRGIN WITHOUT THE CHILD. 


l. LA VERGINE GLORIOSA. 2 L’ INCORONATA. 
3. LA MADONNA DI MISERICORDIA. 4 LA MA< 
DRE DOLOROSA. 5. LA CONCEZIONE. 


THE VIRGIN MARY. 


Lat 1. Virgo Gloriosa. 2. Virgo Sponsa Dei. 3. Virgo Potens 
4. Virgo Veneranda. 5. Virgo Predicanda. 6. Virgo Cle- 
mens. 7. Virgo Sapientissima. 8. Sancta Virgo Virginum. 
Ital. La Vergine Gloriosa. La Gran Vergine delle Vergini. 
fr. La Grande Vierge. 


THERE are representations of the Virgin, and 
among them some of the earliest in existence, 
wnich place her before us as an object of religious 
veneration, but in which the predominant idea is 
not that of her maternity, No doubt it was as the 
mother of the Saviour Christ that she was origi- 
nally venerated; but in the most ancient monu- 
ments of the Christian faith, the sarcophagi, the 
rude paintings in the catacombs, and the mosaics 
executed before the seventh century, she appears 
wmply as a veiled female figure, not in any respect 


58 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


characterized. She stands, in a subordinate pose 
tion, on one side of Christ; St. Peter or St. John | 
the Baptist on the other. oF 
When the worship of the Virgin came to us 
from the East, with it came the Greek type —and_ 
for ages we had no other—the Greek classical 
type, with something of the Oriental or Egyptian 
character. When thus she stands before us with- 
out her Son, and the apostles or saints on each 
side taking the subordinate position, then we are to 
regard her not only as the mother of Christ, but as 
the second Eve, the mother of all suffering human- 
ity; THE WomaAN of the primeval prophecy whose 
issue was to bruise the head of the Serpent; the 
Virgin predestined from the beginning of the 
world who was to bring forth the Redeemer of the- 
world; the mystical Spouse of the Canticles; the 
glorified Bride of a celestial Bridegroom ; the re- 
ceived Type of the Church of Christ, afflicted on 
earth, triumphant and crowned in heaven; the 
most glorious, most pure, most pious, most clement, 
most sacred Queen and Mother, Virgin of Virgins. 
The form under which we find this grand and 
mysterious idea of glorified womanhood originally 
embodied, is wonderfully majestic and simple. A 
female figure of colossal dimensions, far exceeding 
in proportion all the attendant personages and ac- 
cessories, stands immediately beneath some figure 
or emblem representing almighty power: either it 
ss the omnipotent hand stretched out above her 
holding the crown of immortality ; or it is the mys 


LA VERGINE GLORIOSA. 9§ 


hc dove which hovers over her; or it is the half: 
form of Christ, in the act of benediction. 

She stands with arms raised and extended wide, 
the ancient attitude of prayer ; or with hands mere- 
ly stretched forth, expressing admiration, humility, 
and devout love. She is attired in an ample tu- 
nic of blue or white, with a white veil over her 
head, thrown a little back, and displaying an oval 
face with regular features, mild, dignified — some- 
times, in the figures of the ruder ages, rather stern 
and melancholy, from the inability of the artist to 
express beauty ; but when least beautiful, and most” 
formal and motionless, always retaining something 
of the original conception, and often expressibly 
striking and majestic. 

The earliest figure of this character to which I 
can refer is the mosaic in the oratory of San Ve- 
nanzio, in the Lateran, the work of Greek artists un 
der the popes John IV. and Theodorus, both Greeks 
by birth, and who presided over the Church from 
640 to 649. In the vault of the tribune, over the 
altar, we have first, at the summit, a figure of Christ 
half-length, with his hand extended in benediction ; 
on each side, a worshipping angel; below, in the cen- 
tre, the figure of the Virgin according to the an- 
cient type, standing with extended arms, in a vio- 
let or rather dark-blue tunic and white veil, with a 
small cross pendant on her bosom. On her right 
hand stands St. Paul, on her left St. Peter; beyond 
St. Peter and St. Paul, St. John the Baptist hold- 
ing a cross, and St. John the Evangelist holding a 


100 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


book; and beyond these again, St. Domnio and 
St. Venantius, two martyred saints, who perished in 
Dalmatia, and whose relics were brought out of 
that country by the founder of the chapel, John 
IV., himself a Dalmatian by birth. At the ex- 
tremities of this group, or rather line of figures, 
stand the two popes, John IV. and Theodorus, un- 
der whom the chapel was founded and dedicated. 
Although this ancient mosaic has been many times 
restored, the original composition remains. 

Similar, but of later date, is the effigy of the 
Virgin over the altar of the archiepiscopal chapel 
at Ravenna. ‘This mosaic, with others of Greek 
work, was brought from the old tribune of the ca- 
thedral, when it was altered and repaired, and the 
ancient decorations removed or destroyed. 

Another instance, also, at Ravenna, is the basso- 
relievo in Greek marble, and evidently of Greek 
workmanship, which is said to have existed from the 
earliest ages, in the church of S. Maria-in-Porto- 
Fuori, and is now preserved in the S. Maria-in- 
Porto, where I saw it in 1847. It is probably as 
old as the sixth or seventh century. 

In St. Mark’s at Venice, in the grand old basil- 
ica at Torcello, in San Donato at Murano, at 
Monreale, near Palermo, and in most of the old 
churches in the East of Europe, we find similar 
figures, either Byzantine in origin, or in imitation 
of the Byzantine style. 

But about the middle of the thirteenth century, 
and contemporary with Cimabue, we find the firs* 


LA VELGINE GLORIOSA. 104 


mdication of a departure, even in the mosaics, 
from the lifeless, formal: type of Byzantine art. 
The earliest example of a more animated treatment 
is, perhaps, the figure in the apsis of St. John Lat 
eran. (Rome.) In the centre is an immense cross, 
emblem of salvation; the four rivers of Paradise 
(the four Gospels) flow from its base; and the 
faithful, figured by the hart and the sheep, drink 
from these streams. Below the cross is represented, 
of a small size, the New Jerusalem guarded by an 
archangel. On the right stands the Virgin, of 
colossal dimensions. She places one hand on 
the head of a diminutive kneeling figure, Pope 
Nicholas IV.,* by whom the mosaic was dedicated 
about 1290; the other hand, stretched forth, 
seems to recommend the votary to the mercy of 
Christ. 

Full-length effigies of the Virgin seated on a 
throne, or glorified as queen of heaven, or queen 
of angels, without her divine Infant in her arms, 
are exceedingly rare in every age; now and then 
to be met with in the early pictures and illumina- 
tions, but never, that I know of, in the later schools 
of art. A signal example is the fine enthroned 
Madonna in the Campo Santo, who receives St. 
Ranieri when presented by St. Peter and St. Paul. 

On the Dalmatica (or Deacon’s robe) preserved 
in the sacristy of St. Peter’s at Rome (which 
Lord Lindsay well describes as a perfect example 


* For a minute reduction of the whole composition, see Kug 
er’s Handbook, p. 113, 


£02 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


of the highest style of Byzantine art) (Christian 
Art, i. 136), the embroidéry on the front represents 
Christ in a golden circle or glory, robed in white, 
with the youthful and beardless face, his eyes look- 
ing into yours. He sits on the rainbow; his left 
hand holds an open book, inscribed, “ Come, ye 
blessed of my Father!” while the right is raised in 
benediction. The Virgin stands on the right en- 
tirely within the glory; “she is sweet in feature 
and graceful in attitude, in her long white robe.” 
The Baptist stands on the left outside the glory. 

In pictures representing the glory of heaven, 
Paradise, or the Last Judgment, we have this idea 
constantly repeated — of the Virgin on the right 
hand of her Son, but not on the same throne with 
him, unless it be a “ Coronation,” which is a subject 
apart. 

In the great altar-piece of the brothers Van Eyck, 
the upper part contains three compartments; * 
in the centre is Christ, wearing the triple tiara, and 
carrying the globe, as King, as Priest, as Judge: 
on each side, as usual, but in separate compart- 
ments, the Virgin and St. John the Baptist. The 
Virgin, a noble queenly figure, full of serene dig- 
nity and grace, is seated on a throne, and wears a 
superb crown, formed of lilies, roses, and gems, 
over her long fair hair. She is reading intently in 
a book — The Book of Wisdom. She is here the 


*Tt is well known that the different parts of this great works 
have been dispersed. The three compartments mentioned here 
tre at Berlin. 


LA VERGINE GLORIOSA. 103 


Sponsa Dei, and the Virgo Sapientissima, the most 
wise Virgin. This is the only example I can rec: 
ollect of the Virgin seated on the right hand of 
her Son in glory, and holding a book. In every 
other instance she is standing or seated with her 
nands joined or crossed over her bosom, and her 
eyes turned towards him. 

Among innumerable examples, I will cite only 
one, perhaps the most celebrated of all, and famil- 
iar, it may be presumed, to most of my readers, 
though perhaps they may not have regarded it with 
reference to the character and position given to 
the Virgin. It is one of the four great frescoes of 
~ the Camera della Segnatura, in the Vatican, ex- 
hibiting the four highest objects of mental culture 
— Theology, Poetry, Philosophy, and Jurispru- 
dence. In the first of these, commonly, but er- 
roneously, called La Disputa dell’ Sacramento, 
Raphael has combined into one great scene the 
whole system of theology, as set forth by the 
Catholic Church; it is a sort of concordance be- 
tween heaven and earth— between the celestial 
and terrestrial witnesses of the truth. The cen- 
tral group above shows us the Redeemer of the 
world, seated with extended arms, having on the 
tight the Virgin in her usual place, and on the left, 
also in his accustomed place, St. John the Baptist; 
both seated, and nearly on a level with Christ. 
The Baptist is here in his character of the Pre- 
eursor “sent to bear witness to the light, that 
through him all men might believe.” (John i. 7 » 


104, LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


rhe Virgin is exhibited, not merely as the Mother, 
the Sposa, the Church, but as HEAVENLY Wis- 
pom, for in this character the Catholic Church has 
applied to her the magnificent passage in Proverbs: 
“The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His 
way, before His works of old. I was set up from 
everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth 
was.” “Then I was by Him as one brought up 
with Him, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing 
alway before Him.” (Prov. viii. 12-36, and Ke- 
cles. xxiv. 15, 16.) 

Nothing can be more beautiful than the serene 
grace and the mingled majesty and humility in the 
figure of the Virgin, and in her countenance, as 
she looks up adoring to the Fountain of all light, 
all wisdom, and all goodness. Above the principal 
group, is the emblematical image of the FATHER; 
below is the holy Dove, in the act of descending to 
the earth.* 

The Virgin alone, separate from her Son, stand- 
ing or enthroned before us, simply as the Vergine 
Dea or Regina Celi, is rarely met with in modern 
art, either in sculpture or painting. I will give, 
however, one signal example. 

In an altar-piece painted by Cosimo Rosselli, for 
the Serviti at Florence, she stands alone, and in a 
majestic attitude, on a raised pedestal. She holds 


*For a detailed description of this fresco, see Passavant’s 
Raphael, i. 140, and Kugler’s Handbvok, 2d edit., where a 
minute and beautiful reduction of the whole composition will, 
give an idea of the general design. 


UA VERGINE GLORIOSA. 105 


a book, and looks upward, to the Holy Dove, 
hovering over her head; she is here again the. 
Virgo Sapientie. (FI. Gal.) On one side is St. 
John the Evangelist and St. Antonino of Florence 
(see Legends of the Monastic Orders); on the 
other, St. Peter and St. Philip Benozzi; in front 
kneel St. Margaret and St. Catherine: all appear 
to contemplate with rapturous devotion the vision 
of the Madonna. The heads and attitudes in this 
picture have that character of elegance which dis- 
tinguished the Florentine school at this period, 
without any of those extravagances and peculiari- 
ties into which Piero often fell; for the man had 
evidently a touch of madness, and was as eccentric 
in his works as in his life and conversation. The 
order of the Serviti, for whom he painted this pic- 
ture, was instituted in honour of the Virgin, and 
for her particular service, which will account for 
the unusual treatment. 


The numerous— often most beautiful — heads 
and half-length figures which represent the Virgin 
alone, looking up with a devout or tender expres- 
sion, or with the head declined, and the hands 
joined in prayer, or crossed over the bosom with 
virginal humility and modesty, belong to this class 
of representations. In the ancient heads, most of 
which are imitations of the old Greek effigies 
ascribed to St. Luke, there is often great simplicity 
and beauty. When she wears the crewn over her 
veil, or bears a sceptre in her hand, she figures as 


106 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


the queen of heaven (Regina Celi). When such 
effigies are attended by adoring angels, she is the 
queen of angels (Regina Angelorum). When she 
is weeping or holding the crown of thorns, she is 
Our Lady of Sorrow, the Mater Dolorosa. When 
she is merely veiled, with folded hands, and in her 
features all the beauty, maiden purity, and sweetr 
ness which the artist could render, she is simply 
the Blessed Virgin, the Madonna, the Sanita Maria 
ergine. Such heads are very rare in the earlier 
schools of art, which seldom represented the Vir- 
gin without her Child, but became favourite studies 
of the later painters, and were multiplied and 
varied to infinitude from the beginning of the 
seventeenth century. From these every trace of 
the mystical and solemn conception of antiquity 
gradually disappeared; till, for the majestic ideal 
of womanhood, we have merely inane prettiness, 
or rustic, or even meretricious grace, the borrowed 
charms of some earthly model. 


L’ INCORONATA. 


The Coronation of the Virgin. Lat. Coronatio Beatse Marisa 
Virginis. Ital. Maria coronata dal divin suo Figlio. Fr. Le 
Couronnement de la Sainte Vierge. Ger. Die Krénung Maria. 


THE usual type of the Church triumphant is the 
CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN properly so called, 
Christ in the act of crowning his Mother; one of 


the most popular, significant, and beautiful subjecty 


in the whole range of medizval art. 


L’ INCORONATA. 107 


When in a series of subjects from the life of the 
Virgin, so often met with in religious prints and in 
the Roman Catholic churches, we find her death 
and her assumption followed by her coronation ; 
when the bier or sarcophagus and the twelve apos- 
tles appear below, while heaven opens upon us 
above; then the representation assumes a kind of 
dramatic character: it is the last and most glorious 
event of her history. The Mother, dying on earth, 
Is received into glory by her Son who had gone 
before her, and who thus celebrates the consum- 
mation of his victory and hers. 

But when the scene is treated apart as a single 
subject; when, instead of the apostles gazing up to 
heaven, or looking with amazement into the tomb 
from which she had risen, we find the lower part 
of the composition occupied by votaries, patron 
saints, or choral angels; then the subject must be 
regarded as absolutely devotional and typical. It 
is not a scene or an action; it is a great mystery. 
It, is consecrated to the honour of the Virgin asa 
type of the spiritual Church. The Espoused is re- 
ceived into glory and crowned with the crown of 
everlasting life, exalted above angels, spirits, and 
men. In this sense we must understand the sub- 
ject when we find it in ecclesiastical sculpture, 
over the doors of places of worship, in the decora- 
‘ive carving of church utensils, in stained glass. 
In many of the Italian churches there is a chapel 
especially dedicated to the Virgin in this character, 
‘alled la Capella dell’ Incoronata: and both in 


108 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Germany and Italy it is a frequent subject as an 
altar-piece. 

In all the most ancient examples, it is Christ 
only who places the crown on the head of his 
Mother, seated on the same throne and placed 
at his right hand. Sometimes we have the two 
figures only; sometimes the Padre Eterno looks 
down, and the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove 
hovers above or between them. In some later ex- 
amples the Virgin is seated between the Father 
and the Son, both in human form: they place the 
crown on her head each holding it with one hand, 
the Holy Spirit hovering above. In other repre- 
sentations the Virgin kneels at the feet of Christ, 
and he places the crown on her head, while two or 
more rejoicing and adoring angels make heavenly 
music, or all Paradise opens to the view; and 
there are examples where not only the choir of 
attendant angels, but a vast assembly of patriarchs, 
saints, martyrs, fathers of the Church—the whole 
company of the blessed spirits — assist at this great 
ceremony. 

1 will now give some celebrated examples of the 
various styles of treatment. 

There is a group in mosaic, which I believe to 
be singular in its kind, where the Virgin is en- 
throned with Christ. She is seated at his right 
hand, at the same elevation, and altogether as his 
equal. His right arm embraces her, and his hand 
rests on her shoulder. She wears a gorgeous 
srown, which her Son has placed on her brow 


q 


L’ INCORONATA. 10$ 


Christ has only the cruciform nimbus; in his left 
hand is an open book, on which is inscribed, 
“ Veni, Electa mea,” &c. ‘Come, my chosen one, 
and I will place thee upon my throne.” The Vir- 
gin holds a tablet, on which are the words “ His 
right hand should be under my head, and his left 
hand should embrace me.” (Cant. viii. 3.) The 
omnipotent Hand is stretched forth in benediction 
above. Here the Virgin is the type of the Church 
riumphant and glorified, having overcome the 
world; and the solemn significance of the whole 
representation is to be found in the Book of Rev- 
elations: “'To him that overcometh will I grant 
to sit with me in my throne, even as I also over- 
came and am set down with my Father in his 
throne.” (Rev. iii. 21.) 

This mosaic, in which, be it observed, the Vir- 
gin is enthroned with Christ, and embraced, not 
crowned, by him, is, I believe, unique either as a 
picture or a church decoration. It is not older 
than the twelfth century, is very ill executed, but 
is curious from the peculiarity of the treatment. 
(Rome. S. Maria in Trastevere.) 


In the mosaic in the tribune of S. Maria-Mag 
giore at Rome, perhaps the earliest example ex- 
tant of the Coronation, properly so called, the 
subject is treated with a grand and solemn sim- 
plicity. Christ and the Virgin, colossal figures, 
are seated on the same regal throne within a circu- 
lar glory. The background is blue studded with 


8 


4 
110 LEGENDS OF THE MADUNNA. 


golden stars. He places the crown on hvr head 
with his right hand; in the left he holds an open 
book, with the usual text, “Veni, Electa mea, et 
ponam te in thronum meum,” &c. She bends 
slightly forward, and her hands are lifted in ado- 
ration. Above and around the circular glory the 
emblematical vine twines in arabesque form 
among the branches and leaves sit peacocks and 
other birds; the peacock being the old emblem of 
immortality, as birds in general are emblems of 
spirituality. On each side of the glory are nine 
adoring angels, representing the nine choirs of the 
heavenly hierarchy; beyond these on the right 
stand St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Francis; on the left, 
St. John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist, anc 
St. Antony of Padua; all these figures being very 
small in proportion to those of Christ and the Vir- 
gin. Smaller still, and quite diminutive in com- 
parison, are the kneeling figures of Pope Nicholas 
ITV. and Cardinal Giacomo Colonna, under whose 
auspices the mosaic was executed by Jacopo della 
Turrita, a Franciscan friar, about 1288. In front 
flows the river Jordan, symbol of baptism and re- 
generation; on its shore stands the hart, the em- 
blem of religious aspiration. Underneath the cen- 
tral group is the inscription, — 
MARIA VIRGO ASSUMPTA AD ETHERIUM THALAMUM 
In Quo Rex REGUM STELLATO SEDET SOLIO. 


The whole of this vast and poetical composition is 
admirably executed, and it is the more curious as 


L INCORNATA. 111 


being, perhaps, one of the earliest examples of tha 
glorification of St. Francis and St. Antony of Pad- 
ua (Monastic Orders), who were canonized about 
thirty or forty years before. 

The mosaic, by Gaddo Gaddi (Florence, a.p. 
1330), over the great door in the cathedral at Flor- 
ence, is somewhat different. Christ, while placing 
the crown on the head of his Mother with his left 
hand, blesses her with his right hand, and he appears 
to have laid aside his own crown, which lies near 
him. ‘The attitude of the Virgin is also peculiar.* 

In a small altar-piece by Giotto (Florence, S. 
Croce), Christ and the Virgin are seated together 
on athrone. He places the jewelled crown on her 
head with both hands, while she bends forward with 
her hands crossed in her lap, and the softest ex- 
pression in her beautiful face, as if she as meekly 
resigned herself to this honour, as heretofore to the 
angelic salutation which pronounced her “ Blessed:” 
angels kneel before the throne with censers and 
offerings. In another, by Giotto, Christ wearing a 
coronet of gems is seated on a throne: the Virgin 
kneels before him with hands joined: twenty an- 
gels with musical instruments attend around. Ina 
“ Coronation,” by Piero Laurati, the figures of 
Christ and the Virgin, seated together, resemble in 
sentiment and expression those of Giotto. The 


*In the same cathedral (which is dedicated to the Virgin 
Wary) the circular window of the choir opposite to the mosai¢ 
exhibits the Coronation. The design, by Donatello, is eminent 
ly fine and classical. 


112 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA, 


angels are arranged in a glory around, and the 
treatment is wholly typical. 

One of the most beautiful and celebrated of the 
pictures of Angelico da Fiesole is the “‘ Corenation” 
now in the Louvre ; formerly it stood over the high 
altar of the Church of St. Dominick at Fiesole, 
where Angelico had been nurtured, and made. his 
profession as monk. ‘The composition is conceived 
as a grand regal ceremony, but the beings whe 
figure in it are touched with a truly celestial grace. 
The Redeemer, crowned himself, and wearing the 
ermine mantle of an earthly monarch, is seated on 
a magnificent throne, under a Gothic canopy, to 
which there is an ascent of nine steps. He holds 
the crown, which he is in the act of placing, with 
both hands, on the head of the Virgin, who kneels 
before him, with features of the softest and most 
delicate beauty, and an expression of divine hu- 
mility. Her face, seen in profile, is partly shaded 
by a long transparent veil, flowing over her ample 
robe of a delicate crimson, beneath which is a blue 
tunic. On each side a choir of lovely angels, 
clothed from head to foot in spangled tunics of 
azure and rose-colour, with shining wings, make 
celestial music, while they gaze with looks of joy 
and adoration towards the principal group. Lower 
down on the right of the throne are eighteen, and 
on the left twenty-two, of the principal patriarchs, 
apostles, saints, and martyrs‘ among whom the 
worthies of Angelico’s own community. St. Domi: 
nick and St Peter Martyr, are of course conspicu 


L INCORONATA. 118 


pus. At the foot of the throne kneel on one side 
St. Augustine, St. Benedict, St. Charlemagne, the 
royal saint; St. Nicholas; and St. Thomas Aquinas 
holding a pen (the great literary saint of the Do 
minican order, and author of the Office of the Vir- 
gin); on the left we have a group of virgins, St. 
Agnes, St. Catherine with her wheel, St. Catherine 
of Siena, her habit spangled with stars; St. Cecilis 
erowned with her roses, and Mary Macdalene, w ch 
her long golden hair.* Beneath this great cor .po- 
sition runs a border or predella, in seven con.part- 
ments, containing in the centre a Pieta, and on 
each side three small subjects from the history of 
St. Dominick, to whom the church, whence it was 
taken, is dedicated. The spiritual beauty of the 
heads, the delicate tints of the colouring, an ineffa- 
ble charm of mingled brightness and repose shed 
over the whole, give to this lovely picture an effect 
like that of a church hymn, sung at some high fes- 
tival by voices tuned in harmony — “ blest voices, 
uttering joy 

In strong contrast with the graceful Italian concep- 
tion, is the German “ Coronation,” now in the Wal- 
lerstein collection. (Kensington Pal.) It is sup- 
posed to have been painted for Philip the Good, 
Duke of Burgundy, either by Hans Hemling, on 
a painter not inferior to him. Here the Virgin is 
srowned by the Trinity. She kneels, with an air 
of majestic humility, and hands meekly folded on 


”? 
! 


*See ‘“‘Legends of the Monastic Orders,” and ‘Sacred and 
Legendary Art,’ for an account of all these personages. 


114 LEGENDS OF THE MAHONNA. 


her bosom, attired in simple blue drapery, before a 
semicircular throne, on which are seated the Father 
and the Son, between them, with outspread wings, 
touching their mouths, the Holy Dove. The Father 
a venerable figure, wears the triple tiara, and holds 
the sceptre; Christ, with an expression of suffering, 
holds in his left hand a crystal cross; and they sus- 
tain between them a crown which they are about 
to place on the head of the Virgin. Their golden 
throne is adorned with gems, and over it is a glory 
of seraphim, with hair, faces, and plumage, all of a 
glowing red. The lower part of this picture and 
the compartments on each side are filled with a 
vast assemblage of saints, and martyrs, and holy 
confessors; conspicuous among them we find the 
saints most popular in Flanders and Burgundy — 
St. Adrian, St. George, St. Sebastian, St. Maurice, 
clad in coats of mail and crowned with laurel, with 
other kingly and warlike personages; St. Philip, 
the patron of Philip the Good; St. Andrew, in 
whose honour he instituted the order of the Golden 
Fleece: and a figure in a blue mantle with a ducal 
crown, one of the three kings of Cologne, is sup- 
posed to represent Duke Philip himself. It is im- 
possible by any description to do justice to this 
wonderful picture, as remarkable for its elaborate 
workmapship, the mysticism of the conception, the 
quaint elegance of the details, and portrait-like re- 
ality of the faces, as that of Angelico for its spirit- 
ual, tender, imaginative grace. 
There is a “Coronation” by Vivarini (Aca 


L’ INCORONATA. 11§ 


Venice), which may be said to comprise in itself a 
whole system of theology. It is one vast composi- 
tion, not divided by compartments. In the centre 
is a magnificent carved throne sustained by six 
pillars, which stand on a lofty richly ornamented 
pedestal. On the throne are seated Christ and the 
Virgin; he is crowned, and places with both hands 
a crown on her head. Between them hovers the 
celestial Dove, and above them is seen the Heavenly 
Father in likeness of “the Ancient of Days,” who 
paternally lays a hand on the shoulder of each. 
Around his head and over the throne, are the nine 
choirs of angels, in separate groups. First and 
nearest, hover the glowing seraphim and cheru- 
bim, winged, but otherwise formless. Above these, 
the Thrones, holding the globe of sovereignty; to 
the right, the Dominations, Virtues, and Powers; 
to the left, the Princedoms, Archangels, and Angels. 
Below these, on each side of the throne, the proph- 
ets and patriarchs of the Old Testament, holding 
each a scroll. Below these the apostles on twelve 
thrones, six on each side, each holding the Gospel. 
Below these, on each side, the saints and martyrs. 
Below these, again, the virgins and holy women. 
Under the throne, in the space formed by the pil- 
lars, is seen a group of beautiful children (not an- 
sels), .epresenting, I think, the martyred Inno- 
cents. They bear the instruments of Christ’s 
passion — the cross, nails, spear, crown of thorns, 
&c. On the step below the pedestal, and immedi- 
ately in front, are seated the Evangelists and doc 


116 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


tors of the Church; on the right St. Matthew and 
St. Luke, and behind them St. Ambrose and St. 
Augustine ; on the left St. Mark and St. John, and 
behind them St. Jerome and St. Gregory. (See 
“ Sacred and Legendary Art.”) Every part of this 
curious picture is painted with the utmost care 
and delicacy: the children are exquisite, and the 
heads, of which there are at least seventy without 
counting the angels, are finished like miniatures. 

This simple, and altogether typical representation 
of the Virgin crowned by the Trinity in human 
form, is ina French carving of the fifteenth cen- 
tury, and though ill drawn, there is considerable 
naiveté in the treatment. The Eternal Father 
wears, as is usual, the triple tiara, the Son has the 
cross and the crown of thorns, and the Holy Ghost 
is distinguished by the dove on his hand. All three 
sustain the crown over the head of the kneeling 
Virgin, whose train is supported by two angels. 

In a bas-relief over a door of the cathedral at 
Treves, the subject is very simply treated; both 
Christ and the Virgin are standing, which is un- 
usual, and behind each is an angel, also standing 
and holding a crown. 

Where not more than five or six saints are intro- 
duced as attendants and accessories, they are usually 
the patron saints of the locality or community, 
which may be readily distinguished. Thus, 

1. In a “Coronation” by Sandro Botticelli, we 
find below, St. John the Evangelist, St. Augustine, 
St. John Gualberto, St. Bernardo Cardinale. It 


L INCORONATA. 117 


was painted for the Vallombrosian monks. (Ff. 
Gal.) 

2. In a very fine example by Ghirlandajo, St 
Dominick and St. Peter Martyr are conspicuous: 
painted, of course, for the Dominicans. (Paris, 
Louvre.) 

3. In another, by Pinturicchio, St. Francis is a 
principal figure, with St. Bouaventura and St. 
Louis of Toulouse; painted for the Franciscans, 
or at least for a Franciscan pope, Sixtus IV. 
(Rome, Vatican.) 

4. In another, by Guido, the treatment differs 
from the early style. The coronation above is small 
and seen as a vision; the saints below, St. Bernard 
and St. Catherine, are life-size. It was painted for 
a community of Bernardines, the monks of Monte 
Oliveto. (Bologna, Gal.) 

5. In a beautiful little altar-piece by Lorenzo di 
Credi,* the Virgin is kneeling above, while Christ, 
seated, places the crown on her head. A glory of red 
seraphim surround the two figures. Below are the 
famous patron saints of Central Italy, St. Nicholas 
of Bari and St. Julian of Rimini, St. Barbara and 
St. Christina. The St. Francis and St. Antony, 
in the predella, show it to have been painted for a 
Franciscan church or chapel, probably for the same 
church at Cestello for which Lorenzo painted the 
St. Julian and St. Nicholas now in the Louvre. 

The “Coronation of the Virgm” by Annibals 


* Once in the collection of Mr. Rogers; ». ‘‘Sacred and Le 
gendary Art.” 


118 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Carracci is in a spirit altogether different, magnifi- 
rently studied.* On high, upon a lofty throne 
which extends across the whole picture from side 
to side, the Virgin, a noble majestic creature, in 
the true Carracci style, is seated in the midst as 
the principal figure, her hands folded on her bosom. 
On the right hand sits the Father, on the left the 
Son; they hold a heavenly crown surmounted by 
stars above her head. ‘The locality is the Empyre- 
um. The audience consists of angels only, who, 
circle within circle, filling the whole space, and 
melting into an abyss of light, chant hymns of re- 
joicing and touch celestial instruments of music. 
This picture shows how deeply Annibale Carracci 
had studied Correggio, in the magical chiaro-oscuro, 
and the lofty but somewhat mannered grace of the 
figures. 

One of the latest examples I can point to is also 
one of the most simple and grand in conception. 
(Madrid Gal.) It is that by Velasquez, the finest 
perhaps of the very.few devotional subjects painted 
by him. We have here the three figures only, as 
large as life, filling the region of glory, without 
angels, witnesses, or accessories of any kind, ex- 
cept the small cherubim beneath; and the symmet- 
rical treatment gives to the whole a sort of sublime 
effect. But the heads have the air of portraits: 
Christ has a dark, earnest, altogether Spanish 
physiognomy; the Virgin has dark hair; and the 
Padre Eterno, with a long beard, has a bald head. 


This was also in the collection of Mr “*ogers. 


% INCORONATA. 119 


— a gross fault in taste and propriety; because. 
though the loose beard and flowing white hair may’ 
serve to typify the “ Ancient of Days,” baldness 
expresses not merely age, but the infirmity of age. 

Rubens, also, painted a “ Coronation ” with all 
his own lavish magnificence of style for the Jesuits 
at Brussels. After the time of Velasquez and 
Rubens, the “ Immaculate Conception ” superseded 
the “ Coronation.” 


To enter further into the endless variations of 
this charming and complex subject would lead us 
through all the schools of art from Giotto to Guido. 
I have said enough to render it intelligible and in- 
teresting, and must content myself with one or two 
closing memoranda. 

1. The dress of the Virgin in a “ Coronation ” is 
generally splendid, too like the coronation robes of 
an earthly queen,—it is a “raiment of needle- 
work,” — “a vesture of gold wrought about with 
divers colours” — generally blue, crimson, and 
white, adorned with gold, gems, and even ermine. 
In the “ Coronation” by Filippo Lippi, at Spoleto, 
she wears a white robe embroidered with golden 
suns, In a beautiful little “Coronation ” in the 
Wallerstein collection (Kensington Pal.) she wears 
a white robe embroidered with suns and moons, the 
former red with golden rays, the latter blue with 
coloured rays, — perhaps in allusion to the text so 
often applied in reference to her, “ a woman clothed 
with the sun,” &c. (Rev. xii. 1, or Cant vi. 10.) 


120 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


2. In the set of cartoons for the tapestries of the 
Sistine Chapel (Kugler’s Handbook, i. 394), a 
priginally prepared by Raphael, we have the foun- 
dation, the heaven-bestowed powers, the trials ana 
sufferings of the early Church, exhibited in the 
calling of St. Peter, the conversion of St. Paul, the 
acts and miracles of the apostles, the martyrdom of 
St. Stephen ; and the series closed with the Coro- 
nation of the Virgin, placed over the altar, as typi- 
eal of the final triumph of the Church, the comple- 
tion and fulfilment of all the promises made to man, 
set forth in the exaltation and union of the mortal 
with the immortal, when the human Mother and 
her divine Son are reunited and seated on the 
same throne. Raphael placed on one side of the 
celestial group, St. John the Baptist, representing 
sanctification through the rite of baptism; and 
on the other, St. Jerome, the general symbol of 
sanctification through faith and repentance. The 
cartoon of this grand symbolical composition, in 
which all the figures were colossal, is unhappily lost; 
the tapestry is missing from the Vatican collection ; 
two old engravings, however, exist, from which 
some idea may be formed of the original group. 
(Passavant’s Rafael, ii. 258.) 

3. It will be interesting to remember that the 
earliest existing impression taken from an engraved 
metal plate, is a “Coronation of the Virgin. 
Maso Finiguerra, a skilful goldsmith and worker in 
hiello, living at Florence in 1434, was employed to 
execute a pix (the small casket in which the con. 


L’ INCORONATA. 12) 


secrated wafer of the sacrament is deposited), and 
he decorated it with a representation of the Coro- 
nation in presence of saints and angels, in all about 
thirty figures, minutely and exquisitely engraved on 
the silver face. Whether Finiguerra was the first 
worker in niello to whom it occurred to fill up the 
lines cut in the silver with a black fluid, and then by 
laying on it a piece of damp paper, and forcibly 
rubbing it, take off the fac-simile of his design and 
try its effect before the final process, — this we can 

not ascertain; we only know that the impression 
of his “ Coronation ” is the earliest specimen known 
to exist, and gave rise to the practice of cutting 
designs on plates of copper (instead of silver), for 
the purpose of multiplying impressions of them. 
The pix finished by Maso in 1452 is now in the Flor 

ence Gallery in the “ Salle des Bronzes.” The in- 
valuable print, first of its species, exists in the 
National Library at Paris. There is a very exact 
fac-simile of it in Otley’s “ History of Engraving,” 
Christ and the Virgin are here seated together on 
a lofty architectural throne: her hands are crossed 
on her bosom, and she bends her meek veiled head 
to receive the crown, which her Son, who wears a 
triple tiara, places on her brow. ‘The saints most 
conspicuous are St. John the Baptist, patron of 
Florence and of the church for which the pix was 
executed, and a female saint, I believe St. Repara- 
ta, both standing; kneeling in front are St. Cosmo 
and St. Damian, the patrons of the Medici family, 


122 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


then paramount at Florence. (Sacred and Legen. 
dary Art.) 

4. In an illuminated “ Office of the Virgin,” I 
found a version of this subject which must be rare, 
and probably confined to miniatures. Christ is seat 
ed on a throne and the Virgin kneels before him 
he bends forwards, and tenderly takes her clasped 
hands in both his own. An empty throne is at the 
right hand of Christ, over which hovers an angel 
bearing a crown. ‘This is the moment which pre- 
cedes the Coronation, as the group already described 
in the S. Maria-in-Trastevere exhibits the moment 
which follows the Coronation. 

5. Finally, we must bear in mind that those ef- 
figies in which the Madonna is holding her Child, 
while angels place a crown upon her head, do not 
represent THE CORONATION properly so called, 
but merely the Virgin honoured as Mother of 
Christ and Queen of Heaven (Mater Christi, Re- 
gina Celi) ; and that those representations of the 
Coronation which conclude a series of the life of 
the Virgin, and surmount her death-bed or her 
tomb, are historical and dramatic rather thaa devo- 
tional and typical. Of this historical treatment 
there are beautiful examples from Cimabue down 
to Raphael, which will be noticed hereafter in theiz 
proper place. 


YHE VIRGIN OF MERCY. 123 


THE VIRGIN OF MERCY. 


Dur Lady of Succour. Jtal. La Madonna di Misericordia. Fy 
Nétre Dame de Miséricorde. Ger. Maria Mutter des Erbar 
mens. Sp. Nuestra Sefiora de Grazia. 


WHEN once the Virgin had been exalted and 
glorified in the celestial paradise, the next and the 
most natural result was, that she should be re- 
garded as being in heaven the most powerful of in- 
tercessors, and on earth a most benign and ever- 
present protectress. In the medieval idea of 
Christ, there was often something stern ; the Lamb 
of God who died for the sins of the world, is also 
the inexorable Judge of the quick and the dead. 
When he shows his wounds, it is as if a vindictive 
feeling was supposed to exist; as if he were called 
upon to remember in judgment the agonies and the 
degradation to which he had been exposed below 
for the sake of wicked ungrateful men. Ina Greek 
“Day of Judgment,” cited by Didron, Moses holds 
up a scroll, on which is written, “Behold Him 
whom ye crucified,” while the Jews are dragged in- 
fo everlasting fire. Everywhere is the sentiment 
of vengeance; Christ himself is less a judge than 
an avenger. Notso the Virgin; she is represented 
as all mercy, sympathy, and benignity. In some of 
the old pictures of the Day of Judgment, she is 
seated by the side of Christ, on an equality with 
him, and often in an attitude o* deprecation, as if 


124 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


adjuring him to relent; or her eyes are turned on 
the redeemed souls, and she looks away from the 
condemned as if unable to endure the sight of 
their doom. In other pictures she is lower than 
Christ, but always on his right hand, and generally 
seated ; while St. John the Baptist, who is usually 
placed opposite to her on the left of Christ, invari- 
ably stands or kneels. Instead of the Baptist, it is 
sometimes, but rarely, John the Evangelist, who is 
the pendant of the Virgin. 

In the Greek representations of the Last Judg- 
ment, a river of fire flows from under the throne of 
Christ to devour and burn up the wicked.* In 
western art the idea is less formidable, — Christ is 
not at once judge and executioner; but the senti- 
ment is always sufficiently terrible; “ the angels and 
all the powers of heaven tremble before him.” In 
the midst of these terrors, the Virgin, whether 
kneeling, or seated, or standing, always appears as 
a gentle mediator, a supplicant for mercy. In the. 
“ Day of Judgment,” as represented in the ‘ Hor- 
tus Deliciarum,” + we read inscribed under her fig- 
ure the words “ Maria Filio suo pro Ecclesia sup- 
plicat.” Ina very fine picture by Martin Schoen 
(Schleissheim Gal.), it is the Father, who, with a 
sword and three javelins in his hand, sits as the 


* Didron, ‘‘ Iconographie Chrétienne;” and in the mosaic 0, 
the Last Judgment, executed by Byzantine artists, in the cathe- 
dral at Torcello. 

+t A celebrated illuminated MS. (date about 1159 to 1175), pre 
served in the Library at Strasburg, 


THE VIRGIN OF MERCY. 125 


avenging judge; near him Christ; while the Vir- 
gin staads in the foreground, looking up to her 

Son with an expression of tender supplication, and - 
interceding, as it appears, for the sinners kneeling 
found her, and whose imploring looks are directed 
to her. In the well-known fresco by Andrea Or- 
zagna (Pisa, Campo Santo), Christ and the Vir- 
gin sit throned above, each in a separate aureole, 
but equally glorified. Christ, pointing with one 
hand to the wound in his side, raises the other ina 
threatening attitude, and his attention is directed to 
the wicked, whom he hurls into perdition. The 
Virgin, with one hand pressed to her bosom, looks 
to him with an air of supplication. Both figures are 
regally attired, and wear radiant crowns; and the 
twelve apostles attend them, seated on each side. 


In the centre group of Michael Angelo’s “ Last 
Judgment,” we have the same leading motif, but 
treated: in a very different feeling. Christ stands 
before us in figure and mien like a half-naked ath- 
lete ; his left hand rejects, his right hand threatens, 
and his whole attitude is as utterly devoid of dignity 
as of grace. I have often wondered as I have 
looked at this grand and celebrated work, what 
could be Michael Angelo’s idea of Christ. He who 
was so good, so religious, so pure-minded, and so 
high-minded, was deficient in humility and sym- 
pathy; if his morals escaped, his imagination was 
sorrupted by the profane and pagan influences of 
tis time. His conception of Christ is here most 

9 


126 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


unchristian, and his conception of the Virgin is not 
much better. She is grand in form, but the ex- 
pression is too passive. She looks down and seems 
to shrink; but the significance of the attitude, — 
the hand pressed to the maternal bosom, -- given 
to her by the old painters, is lost. 

In a“ Last Judgment” by Rubens, painted fer 
the Jesuits of Brussels (Brussels; Musée), the 
Virgin extends her robe over the world, as if to 
shield mankind from the wrath of her Son; point- 
ing, at the same time, significantly to her bosom, 
whence He derived his earthly life. The daring 
bad taste, and the dramatic power of this represen- 
tation, are characteristic alike of the painter, the 
time, and the community for which the picture was 
painted. 


More beautiful and more acceptable to our feel- 
ings are those graceful representations of the Virgin 
as dispenser of mercy on earth; as protectress and 
patroness either of all Christendom, or of some par- 
ticular locality, country, or community. In such pic- 
tures she stands with outstretched arms, crowned 
with a diadem, or in some instances simply veiled , 
her ample robe, extended on each side, is held up by 
angels, while under its protecting folds are gathered 
worshippers and votaries of all ranks and ages — 
men, women, children, —kings, nobles, ecclesias- 
tics, —the poor, the lame, the sick. Or if the pic- 
ture be less universal in its significance, dedicated 


HE VIRGIN OF MERCY. 127 


perhaps by some religious order or charitable broth: 
erhood, we see beneath her robe an assemblage of 
monks and nuns, or a troop of young orphans or 
redeemed prisoners. Such a representation is styled 
a Misericordia. 

In a picture by Fra Filippo Lippi (Berlin Gal.), 
the Madonna of Mercy extends her protecting 
mantle over thirty-five kneeling figures, the faces 
like portraits, none elevated or beautiful, but the 
whole picture as an example of the subject most 
striking. 

A very beautiful and singular representation of 
the Virgin of Mercy without the Child, I found in 
the collection of Herr v. Quandt, of Dresden. She 
stands with hands folded over her bosom, and 
wrapped in ample white drapery, without ornament 
of any kind; over her head, a veil of transparent 
gauze of a brown colour, such as, from various por- 
traits of the time, appears to have been then a fash- 
ion. The expression of the face is tender and 
contemplative, almost sad; and the whole figure, 
which is life-size, is inexpressibly refined and digni- 
fied. The following inscription is on the dark back- 
ground to the right of the Virgin : — 

IMAGO 
BEATa MAri# VIRGINIS 
Qua 
Mens. AUGUST. MIOXXXIII. 
APPARUIT 
MZRACULOR. OPERATIONE 
Concursu Pop. 
CELEBERRIM. 


28 LEGENDS OF THE MADUNNA. 


This beautiful picture was brought from Brescia 
to Vienna by a picture-dealer, and purchased by 
Herr v. Quandt. It was painted by Moretto of 
Brescia, of whom Lanzi truly says that his sacred 
subjects express la compunzione, la pieta, la ca- 
rita istessa ; and this picture is an instance. But 
by whom dedicated, for what especial mercy, or 
in what church, I could not ascertain.* 


It is seldom that the Madonna di Misericordia 
appears without the Child in her arms; her mater- 
nity is supposed to be one element in her sympathy 
with suffering humanity. I will add, however, to 
the examples already given, one very celebrated 
instance. 

The picture entitled the “ Misericordia di Lucca ” 
is famous in the history of art. (Lucca. S. Ro- 
mano.) It is the most important work of Fra Bar- 
tolomeo, and is dated 1515, two years before his 
death. The Virgin, a grand and beautiful figure, 
stands alone on a raised platform, with her arms 
extended, and looking upto heaven. The ample 
folds of her robe are held open by two angels. 
Beneath and round her feet are various groups in 
attitudes of supplication, who look up to her, as 
she looks up to heaven. On one side the donor of 
the picture is presented by St. Dominick. Above, 


* T possess a charming drawing of the head by Fraulein Lou. 
ise Seidler of Weimar, whose feeling for early religious art is 
shcwn in her own works, as well as in the beautiful copies she 
das made of others. 


THE VIRGIN OF MERCY. 129 


m a glory, is the figure of Christ surrounded by 
angels, and seeming to bend towards his mother _ 
The expression in the heads, the dignified benefi- 
cence of the Virgin, the dramatic feeling in the 
groups, particularly the women and children, justify 
the fame of this picture as one of the greatest of 
the productions of mind.* 


There is yet another version of this subject, which 
deserves notice from the fantastic grace of the con- 
ception. As in early Christian Art, our Saviour 
was frequently portrayed as the Good Shepherd, 
s0, among the later Spanish fancies, we find his 
Mother represented as the Divine Shepherdess. In 
a picture painted by Alonzo Miguel de Tobar 
(Madrid Gal. 226), about the beginning of the 
eighteenth century, we find the Virgin Mary seated 
under a tree, in guise of an Arcadian pastorella, 
wearing a broad-brimmed hat, encircled by a glory, 
a crook in her hand, while she feeds her flock with 
the mystical roses. The beauty of expression in 
the head of the Virgin is such as almost to redeem 
the quaintness of the religious conceit; the whole 
picture is described as worthy of Murillo. It was 


* According to the account in Murray’s ‘* Handbook,” this 
picture was dedicated by the noble family of Montecanini, and 
represents the Virgin interceding for the Lucchesi during the 
wars with Florence. But I confess I am doubtful of this inter- 
pretation, and rather think it refers to the pestilence, which, 
about 1512, desolated the whole of the north of Italy. Wilkie, 
who saw this picture in 1825, speaks of the workmanship witb 
the enthusiasm of a workman. 


130 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


painted for a Franciscan church at Madrid, and the 
idea became so popular, that we find it multiplied 
and varied in French and German prints of the 
last century; the original picture remains un- 
equalled for its pensive poetical grace ; but it must 
be allowed that the idea, which at first view strikes 
from its singularity, is worse than questionable in 
point of taste, and will hardly bear repetition. 

There are some ex-voto pictures of the Madonna 
of Mercy, which record individual acts of gratitude. 
One, for instance, by Nicolé Alunno (Rome, Pal. 
Colonna), in which the Virgin, a benign and digni- 
fied creature, stretches forth her sceptre from above, 
and rebukes the ugly fiend of Sin, about to seize a 
boy. The mother kneels on one side, with eyes up- 
lifted, in faith and trembling supplication. The 
same idea I have seen repeated in a picture by 
Lanfranco. 


The innumerable votive pictures which represent 
the Madonna di Misericordia with the Child in her 
arms, I shall notice hereafter. They are in Catho- 
lic countries the usual ornaments of charitable in- 
stitutions and convents of the Order of Mercy 
and have, asI canuot but think, a very touching 
significance. 


THE MATER DOLOROSA. 13} 


THE MATER DOLOROSA. 


Bal. La Madre di Dolore. L’Addolorata. Fr. Notre Dame ds 
Pitié. La Vierge de Douleur. Sp. Nuestra Seiiora de Dolores 
Ger. Die Schmerzhafte Mutter. 


One of the most important of these devotional 
subjects proper to the Madonna is the “ Mourning 
Mother,” the Mater Dolorosa, in which her charac- 
ter is that of the mother of the crucified Redeem- 
er; the mother of the atoning Sacrifice; the queen 
of martyrs; the woman whose bosom was pierced 
with a sharp sword; through whose sorrow the 
world was saved, whose anguish was our joy, and to 
whom the Roman Catholic Christians address their 
prayers as consoler of the afflicted, because she had 
herself tasted of the bitterest of all earthly sorrow, 
the pang of the agonized mother for the loss of 
her child. 

In this character we have three distinct repre- 
sentations of the Madonna. 

Mater Dotorosa. In the first she appears 
alone, a seated or standing figure, often the head or 
half length only; the hands clasped, the head bowed 
in sorrow, tears streaming from the heavy eyes, and 
the whole expression intensely mournful. The feat- 
ures are properly those of a woman in middle age; 
out in later times the sentiment of beauty predomi- 
uated over tnat of the mother’s agony; and I have 
veen the sublime Mater Dolorosa transformed into 


+32 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


a merely beautiful and youthful maiden, with such 
an air of sentimental grief as might serve for the 
oss of a sparrow. 

Not so with the older heads; even those of the 
Carracci and the Spanish school have often a won: 
derful depth of feeling. 

It is common in such representations to repre- 
sent the Virgin with a sword in her bosom, and 
even with seven swords in allusion to the seven sor- 
rows. ‘This very material and palpable version of 
the allegorical prophecy (Luke i. 35) has been 
found extremely effective as an appeal to the pop- 
ular feelings, so that there are few Roman Catholic 
churches without such a painful and literal inter- 
pretation of the text. It occurs perpetually in 
prints, and there is a fine example after Vandyck ; 
sometimes the swords are placed round her head; 
but there is no instance of such a figure from the 
best period of religious art, and it must be con- 
sidered as anything but artistic: in this case, the 
more materialized and the more matter of fact, the 
more unreal. 


SraBAT Mater. A second representation of 
the Madre di Dolore is that figure of the Virgin 
which, from the very earliest times, was placed on 
the right of the Crucifix, St. John the Evangelist 
being invariably on the left. I am speaking here of 
the crucifix as a wholly ideal and mystical emblem 
of our faith in a crucified Saviour; not of the cru 
ttifizion as an event, in which the Virgin is an acto» 


THE MATER DOLOROSA. 132 


and spectator, and is usually fainting in the arms of 
her attendants. In the ideal subject she is merely _ 
an ideal figure, at once the mother of Christ, ana 
the personified Church. This, I think, is evident 
from those very ancient carvings, and examples in 
stained glass, in which the Virgin, as the Church, 
stands on one side of the cross, trampling on a 
female figure which personifies Judaism or the syn- 
agogue. Even when the allegory is less palpable, 
we feel that the treatment is wholly religious and 
poetical. | 

The usual attitude of the Mater Dolorosa by the 
crucifix is that of intense but resigned sorrow; the 
hands clasped, the head declined and shaded by a 
veil, the figure closely wrapped in a dark blue or 
violet mantle. In some instances a more generally 
religious and ideal cast is given to the figure; she 
stands with outspread arms, and looking up; not 
weeping, but in her still beautiful face a mingled 
expression of faith and anguish. This is the true 
conception of the sublime hymn, 


‘¢ Stabat Mater Dolorosa 
Juxta crucem lachrymosa 
Dum pendebat filius.” 


La Prieta. The third, and it is the most impor- 
tant and most beautiful of all as far as the Virgin is 
concerned, is the group called the PrerA, which, 
when strictly devotional, consists only of the Virgin 
with her dead Son in her arms, or on her lap, or 
tying at her feet; in some instances with lamenting 


134 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


angels, but no other personages. This group has 
been varied in a thousand ways; no doubt the two 
most perfect conceptions are those of Michael 
Angelo and Raphael; the first excelling in sub- 
limity, the latter in pathos. The celebrated marble 
group by Michael Angelo stands in the Vatican in 
a chapel to the right as we enter. The Virgin ig 
seated ; the dead Saviour lies across the knees of 
his mother ; she looks down on him in mingled sor- 
row and resignation, but the majestic resignation 
predominates. The composition of Raphael exists 
only as a print; but the flimsy paper, consecrated 
through its unspeakable beauty, is likely to be as 
lasting as the marble. It represents the Virgin 
standing with outstretched arms, and looking up 
with an appealing agonized expression towards 
heaven ; before her, on the earth, lies extended 
the form of the Saviour. In tenderness, dignity, 
simplicity, and tragic pathos, nothing can exceed 
this production ; the head of the Virgin in particu- 
lar is regarded as a masterpiece, so far exceeding 
in delicacy of execution every other work of Mare 
Antonio, that some have thought that Raphael him- 
self took the burin from his hand, and touched 
himself that face of quiet woe. 

Another example of wonderful beauty is the 
Pieta by Francia, in our National Gallery. The 
form of Christ lies extended before his mother; a 
1amenting angel sustains the head, another is at the 
feet; the Virgin, with eyes red and heavy with 
weeping, looks out of the picture. There needs n¢ 


THE MATER DOLOROSA 135 


visible sword in her bosom to tell what anguish hae 
pierce(l that maternal heart. , 

There is another Pieta, by Michael Angelo, quite 
a different conception. The Virgin sits at the foot 
of the cross; before her, and half-sustained by her 
knees, lies the form of the dead Saviour, seen in 
front; his arms are held up by two angels (un- 
winged, as is usual with Michael Angelo). The 
Virgin looks up to heaven with an appealing ex- 
pression ; and in one engraving of this composi- 
tion the cross is inscribed with the words, “Tu 
non pensi quanto sangue costa.” There is no 
painting by Michael Angelo himself, but many cop- 
les and engravings of the drawing. A beautiful 
small copy, by Marcello Venusti, is in the Queen’s 
Gallery. 

There is yet another version of the Pieta, quite 
mystical and devotional in its significance, — but, 
to my feeling, more painful and material than poeti- 
cal. It is variously treated; for example: —1. 
‘The dead Redeemer is seen half-length within the 
tomb; his hands are extended to show his wounds; 
his eyes are closed, his head declined, his bleeding 
brow encircled by thorns. On one side is the Vir- 
. gin, on the other St. John the Evangelist, in atti- 
tudes of profound grief and commiseration. 2. The — 
dead form, half emerging from the tomb, is sus- 
tained in the arms of the Mater Dolorosa. St. 
John the Evangelist on the other side. There are 
sometimes angels. 

The Pieta thus conceived as a purely religious 


{36 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


and ideal impersonation of the atoning Sacrifice is 
commonly placed over the altar of the sacrament 
and in many altar-pieces it forms the centre of the 
predella, just in front where the mass is celebrated, 
or on the door of the tabernacle, where the Host is 
deposited. 

When, with the Mater Dolorosa and St. John, 
Mary Magdalene is introduced with her dishevelled 
hair, the group ceases to be properly a Pieta, and 
becomes a representation rather than a symbol. 


There are also examples of a yet more complex 
but still perfectly ideal and devotional treatment, 
in which the Mourning Mother is attended by 
saints. 

A most celebrated instance of this treatment is 
the Pieta by Guido. (Bologna Gal.) In the upper 
part of the compositivn, the figure of the dead Re- 
deemer lies extended on a white shroud; behind 
him stands the Virgin-mother, with her eyes raised 
to heaven, and sad appealing face, touched with so 
divine a sorrow —so much of dignity in the midst 
of infinite -anguish, that I know nothing finer in 
its way. Her hands are resignedly folded in each 
sther, not raised, not clasped, but languidly droop- - 
ing. An angel stands at the feet of Christ looking 
on with a tender adoring commiseration ; another, 
at his head, turns away weeping. A kind of cur- 
tain divides this group from the lower part of the 
picture, where, assembled on a platform, stand or 
kneel the guardian saints of Bologna: ia the cer 


THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 137 


tre, the benevolent St. Charles Borromeo, who just 
about that time had been canonized and added to 
the list of the patrons of Bologna by a decree of 
the senate; on the right, St. Dominick and St. 
Petronius; on the left, St. Proculus and St. Fran- 
cis. These sainted personages look up as if adjur 
ing the Virgin, even by her own deep anguish, to 
‘imtercede for the city; she is here at once our 
Lady of Pity, of Succour, and of Sorrow. This 
wonderful picture was dedicated, as an act of pen- 
ance and piety, by the magistrates of Bologna, in 
1616, and placed in their chapel in the church of 
the “ Mendicanti,” otherwise §S. Maria-della-Pieta. 
It hung there for two centuries, for the consolation 
of the afflicted ; it is now placed in the Academy 
of Bologna for the admiration of connoisseurs. 


OUR LADY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEP- 
TION. 


Ital. La Madonna Purissima. Lat. Regina sine labe originali 
concepta. Spa. Nuestra Sefiora sin peccado concepida. La 
Concepcion. Fr. La Conception de la Vierge Marie. Ger. 
Das Geheimulss der unbefleckten Empfangniss Maria. Dec. &. 


Tue last and the latest subject in which the Vir- 
gin appears alone without the Child, is that en 
titled the “Immaculate Conception of the Blessed 
Virgin ;” and sometimes merely “THe Concrp- 
TION.” There is no instance of its treatment in 
the earlier schools of art; but as one of the most 


i38 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. ° 


popular subjects of the Italian and Spanish paint 
ters of the seventeenth century, and one very fre- 
quently misunderstood, it is necessary to go inte 
the history of its origin. 

In the early ages of Christianity, it was usual to 
celebrate, as festivals of the Cburch, the Concep- 
tion of Jesus Christ, and the Conception of his 
kinsman and precursor John the Baptist; the latter’ 
as miraculous, the former as being at once divine 
and miraculous. In the eleventh century it was 
proposed to celebrate the Conception of the Vir- 
gin Mother of the Redeemer. 

From the time that the heresy of Nestorius had 
been condemned, and that the dignity of the Vir- 
gin as mother of the Divinity had become a point 
of doctrine, it was not enough to advocate her ex- 
celling virtue and stainless purity as a mere human 
being. It was contended, that having been pre- 
destined from the beginning as the Woman through 
whom the divine nature was made manifest on 
earth, she must be presumed to be exempt from all 
sin, even from that original taint inherited from 
Adam. Through the first Eve, we had all died; 
through the second Eve, we had all been. “made 
alive.” It was argued that God had never suffered 
his earthly temple to be profaned; had even pro- 
mulgated in person severe ordinances to preserve 
its sanctuary inviolate. How much more to him 
was that temple, that tabernacle built by no human 
hands, in which he had condescended to dwell 
Nothing was impossible to God; it lay, therefore - 


THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 13y 


m his power te cause his Mother to come absolutely 
pure and immaculate into the world: being in his. 
power, could any earnest worshipper of the Virgin 
doubt for a moment that for one so favoured it 
would not be done? Such was the reasoning of 
our forefathers; and the premises granted, who 
Bhall call it illogical or irreverent ? 

For three or four centuries, from the seventh to 
the eleventh, these ideas had been gaining ground. 
St. Ildefonso of Seville distinguished himself by his 
writings on this subject; and how the Virgin rec- 
ompensed his Zeal, Murillo has shown us, and I 
have related in the life of that saint. (Legends of 
the Monastic Orders.) But the first mention of a 
festival, or solemn celebration of the Mystery of the 
Immaculate Conception, may be traced to an Eng- 
lish monk of the eleventh century, whose name 
is not recorded. (v. Baillet, vol. xii.) When, how 
ever, it was proposed to give the papal sanction to 
this doctrine as an article of belief, and to institute 
a church office for the purpose of celebrating the 
Conception of Mary, there arose strong opposition. 
What is singular, St. Bernard, so celebrated for his 
enthusiastic devotion to the Virgin, was most strenu- 
ous and eloquent in his disapprobation. He pro- 
nounced no judgment against those who received 
the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, he 
rather leaned towards it; but he opposed the insti- 
tution of the festival as an innovation not counte- 
uanced by the early fathers of the Church. After 
the death of St. Bernard. for about a hundred 


140 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


years, the dispute slept; but the doctrine gained 
ground. ‘The thirteenth century, so remarkable 
for the manifestation of religious enthusiasm in all 
its forms, beheld the revival of this celebrated con- 
troversy. A certain Franciscan friar, Duns Scotus 
(John Scott of Dunse), entered the lists as cham- 
pion for the Virgin. He was opposed by the Do- 
minicans and their celebrated polemic Thomas 
Aquinas, who, like St. Bernard, was known for his 
enthusiastic reverence for the Virgin; but, like hm, 
and on the same grounds, objected to the introduc- 
tion of new forms. ‘Thus the theological schools 
were divided. 

During the next two hundred years the belief 
Secame more and more general, the doctrine more 
and more popular; still the Church, while it toler- 
ated both, refused to ratify either. All this time 
we find no particular representation of the favour- 
ite dogma in art, for until ratified by the authority 
of the Church, it could not properly enter into 
ecclesiastical decoration. We find, however, that 
the growing belief in the pure Conception and 
miraculous sanctification of the Virgin multiplied 
the representations of her coronation and glorifica- 
tion, as the only permitted expression of the popu- 
lar enthusiasm on this point. For the powerful 
Order of the Franciscans, who were at this time 
and for a century afterwards the most ardent 
champions of the Immaculate Conception, were 
painted most of the pictures of the Coronation 
produced during the fourteenth century. 


THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 144 


The first papal decree touching the “ Immaculate 
Conception” as an article of faith, was promul-. 
gated in the reign of Sixtus IV., who had been a 
Franciscan friar, and he took the earliest. opportu- 
nity of giving the solemn sanction of the Church 
to what had ever been the favourite dogma of his 
Order; but the celebration of the festival, never 
actually forbidden, had by this time become so 
usual, that the papal ordinance merely sanctioned 
without however rendering it obligatory. An office 
was composed for the festival, and in 1496 the Sor- 
bonne declared in favour of it. Still it remained 
a point of dispute ; still there were dissentient voices, 
principally among the Dominican theologians; and 
from 1500 to 1600 we find this controversy oc- 
cupying the pens of the ecclesiastics, and excit- 
ing the interest and the imagination of the peo- 
ple. In Spain the “Immaculate Conception of 
the Virgin,” owing perhaps to the popularity and 
power of the Franciscans in that country, had long 
been “the darling dogma of the Spanish Church.” 
Villegas, in the “ Flos Sanctorum,” while admitting 
the modern origin of the opinion, and the silence 
of the Church, contended that, had this great fact 
been made manifest earlier and in less enlightened 
times, it might possibly have led to the error of 
worshipping the Virgin as an actual goddess. 
(Stirling’s Artists of Spain, p. 905.) To those 
who are conversant with Spanish theology and art, 
it may seem that the distinction drawn in theory is 
not very definite or perceptible in practice. 

10 


142 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


At length, in July, 1615, Paul V. formally insti 
tuted the office commemorating the Immaculate 
Conception, and in 1617 issued a bull forbidding 
any one to teach or preach a contrary opinion. 
“ On the publication of this bull, Seville flew into a 
frenzy of religious joy.” The archbishop performed 
a solemn service in the Cathedral. Cannon roared, 
and bull fights, tournaments, and banquets cele- 
brated this triumph of the votaries of the Virgin. 
Spain and its dependencies were solemnly placed 
under the protection of the “Immaculate Concep- 
tion,” thus personifying an abstract idea; and to 
this day, a Spaniard-salutes his neighbour with the 
angelic “‘ Ave Maria purissima!” and he responds 
“Sin peccado concepida!” * 


I cannot find the date of the earliest picture of 
the Immaculate Conception ; but the first writer on 
the art who makes allusion to the subject, and lays 
down specific rules from ecclesiastical authority for 
2s proper treatment, is the Spaniard Pacheco, who 
must have been about forty years of age when the 
bull was published at Seville in 1618. It is soon 
after this time that we first hear of pictures of the 
Immaculate Conception. Pacheco subsequently 
became a familiar of the Inquisition, and wielded 
the authority of the holy office as inspector of sacred 


* In our own days we have seen this curious controversy 
revived. One of the latest, if not the last, writer on the subjec 
was Cardinal Lambruschini; and the last papal ordinance was 
promulgated by Pio Nono, and dated from Gaeta, 1849 


THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 143 


pictures; and in his “ Arte de la Pintura,” pub. 
lished in 1649, he laid down those rules for the 
representation which had been generally, though 
not always, exactly followed. 

It is evident that the idea is taken from the 
woman in the Apocalypse, “clothed with the sun, 
having the moon under her feet, and on her head 
a crown of twelve stars.” The Virgin is to be 
portrayed in the first spring and bloom of youth 
as a maiden of about twelve or thirteen years of 
age; with “srave sweet eyes;” her hair golden; 
her features “ with all the beauty painting can ex- 
press;” her hands are to be folded on her bosom 
or joined in prayer. The sun is to be expressed 
by a flood of light around her. The moon under 
her feet is to have the horns pointing downwards, 
because illuminated from above, and the twelve 
stars are to form a crown over her head. The 
robe’ must be of spotless white; the mantle or 
scarf blue. Round her are to hover cherubim bear- 
ing roses, palms, and lilies; the head of the bruised 
and vanquished dragon is to be under her feet. She 
ought to have the cord of St. Francis as a girdle, 
because in this guise she appeared to Beatriz de 
Silva, a noble Franciscan nun, who was favoured by 
a celestial vision of the Madonna in her beatitude. 
Perhaps the good services of the Franciscans aa 
champions of the Immaculate Conception procured 
them the honour of being thus commemorated. 

All these accessories are not absolutely and rig- 
sly required: and Murillo, who is entitled par 


144 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


excellence the painter of the Conception, sometiines 
departed from the letter of the law without being 
considered as less orthodox. With him the cres- 
cent moon is sometimes the full moon, or when a 
crescent the horns point upwards instead of down- 
wards. He usually omits the starry crown, and, in 
spite of his predilection for the Capuchin Order, 
the cord of St. Francis is in most instances dis- 
pensed with. He is exact with regard to the col- 
ours of the drapery, but not always in the colour of 
the hair. On the other hand, the beauty and ex- 
pression of the face and attitude, the mingled love- 
liness, dignity, and purity, are given with exquisite 
feeling ; and we are never, as in his other represen- 
tations of the Madonna, reminded of commonplace, 
homely, often peasant, portraiture ; here all is spot- 
less grace, ethereal delicacy, benignity, refinement, 
repose, — the very apotheosis of womanhood. 

I must go back to observe, that previous to the 
promulgation of the famous bull of Pope Paul V., 
the popular ideas concerning the Immaculate Con- 
ception had left their impress on art. Before the 
subject had taken an express and authorized form, 
we find pictures which, if they do not represent 
it, relate to it. I remember two which cannot 
be otherwise interpreted, and there are probably 
others. 

The first is a curious picture of the early Floren- 
tine School. (Berlin Gal.) In the centre is origi 
nal sin, represented by Eve and the Serpent; on 
the right stand St. Ambrose, St. Hilarius, St. Ar 


THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 144 


selm, and St. Bernard; on the left St. Cyril, Ori- 
gen, St. Augustine, and St. Cyprian; and below - 
are inscribed passages from the writings of these 
fathers relating to the immaculate Conception of 
the Virgin: all of them had given to her in their 
works the title of Immaculate, most pure ; but they 
differed as to the period of her sanctification, as to 
whether it was in the moment of conception or at 
the moment of birth. 

The other picture is in the Dresden Gallery, and 
one of the finest productions of that extraordinary 
Ferrarese painter Dosso Dossi. \ In the lower part 
of the picture are the four Latin Fathers, turning 
over their great books, or in deep meditation ; be- 
hind them, the Franciscan Bernardino of Siena. 
Above, in a glory of light, the Virgin, clothed, not 
in spotless white, but a richly embroidered regal 
mantle, “ wrought about with divers colours,” kneels 
at the feet of the Almighty, who extends his hand 
in benediction. I find no account in the catalogue 
whence this picture was taken, but it was evidently 
painted for the Franciscans. 


In 1617, when the Bull of Paul V. was formally 
expedited, Guido was attached to the papal court 
in quality of painter and an especial favourite with 
his Holiness. Among the earliest accredited pic- 
tures of the Immaculate Conception, are four of 
bis finest works. 

1. The cupola of the private chapel of the Quir- 
mal represents the Almighty meditating the greaf 


146 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


miracle of the Immaculate Conception, and near 
him, within the same glory of light, is the Virgin in 
her white tunic, and in an attitude of adoration. 
This was painted about 1610 or 1611, when Pope 
Paul V. was meditating the promulgation of his 
famous ordinance. 

2. The great picture, also painted for Paul V., 
represents the doctors of the Church arguing and 
consulting their great books for the authorities on 
the subject of the Conception.* Above, the Virgin 
is seated in glory, arrayed in spotless white, her 
hands crossed over her bosom, and her eyes turned 
towards the celestial fountain of light. Below are 
six doctors, consulting their books; they are not 
well characterized, being merely so many ideal 
heads in a mannered style ; but I believe they rep- 
resent the four Latin Fathers, with St. John Dam- 
ascene and St. Ildefonso, who were especial defend- 
ers of the doctrine. 

3. The next in point of date was painted for the 
Infanta of Spain, which I believe to be the same 
now in the possession of Lord Ellesmere. The fig- 
ure of the Virgin, crowned with the twelve stars, 
and relieved from a background of golden light, 
is standing on a crescent sustained by three cher- 
ubs beneath: she seems to float between heaven 
and earth; on either side is a seraph, with hands 
folded and looks upraised in adoration. The 
whole painted in his silvery tone, with such an 
extreme delicacy and transparency of effect, tha 

* Petersburg Imp. Gal. There is a fine engraving. 


THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 147 


% might be styled “a vision of the Immaculate Con- 
teption.” 

4. The fourth was painted for the chapel of the 
Immaculate Conceptian, in the church of San Bia- 
gio, at Forli, and is there still. 


Just as the Italian schools of painting were on 
the decline, the Spanish school of art arose in all! 
its glory, and the “ Conception ” became, from the 
popularity of the dogma, not merely an ecclesias- 
tical, but a popular subject. Not only every church, 
but almost every private house, contained the effigy 
either painted or carved, or both, of our Lady “sin 
peccado concepida;” and when the academy of 
painting was founded at Seville, in 1660, every 
candidate for admission had to declare his orthodox 
belief in the most pure Conception of our Lady. 

The finest Spanish “ Conception” before the 
time of Murillo, is by Roelas, who died in 1625; it 
is in the academy at Seville, and is mentioned by 
Mr. Ford as “ equal to Guido.” * 

One of the most beautiful. and characteristic, as 
well as earliest, examples of this subject I have seen, 
is a picture in the Esterhazy Gallery at Vienna. 
The Virgin is in the first bloom of girlhood ; she 
looks not. more than nine. or .ten years old, with 
dark hair, Spanish features, and a charming expres- 
tion of childlike simplicity and devotion. She 
stands amid clouds, with ber hands joined, and the 


- * Handbook:of Spain. . A very fine picture of this subject, by 
Roelas, was sold out of the Soult Collection. 


148 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


proper white and blue drapery: there are no acces 
sories. This picture is attributed to an obscure 
painter, Lazaro Tavarone, of whom I can learn 
nothing more than that he was employed in the 

scurial about 1590. 

The beautiful small “ Conception ” by Velasquez, 
in the possession of Mr. Frere, is a departure from 
the rules laid down by Pacheco in regard to cos 
tume; therefore, as I presume, painted before he 
entered the studio of the artist-inquisitor, whose 
son-in-law he became before he was three and 
twenty. Here the Virgin is arrayed in a pale vio- 
let robe, with a dark blue mantle. Her hands are 
joined, and she looks down. The solemnity and 
depth of expression in the sweet girlish face is very 
striking; the more so, that it is not a beautiful face, 
and has the air of a portrait. Her long hair flows 
over her shoulders. The figure is relieved against 
a bright sun, with fleecy clouds around; and the 
twelve stars are over her head. She stands on the 
round moon, of which the upper half is illumined. 
Below, on earth, and through the deep shadow, are 
seen several of the emblems of the Virgin — the 
fountain, the temple, the olive, the cypress, and the 
garden enclosed in a treillage of roses.* This pic- 
ture is very remarkable; it is in the earliest man- 
ner of Velasquez, painted in the bold free style of 
his first master, Herrara, whose school he quitted 
when he was about seventeen or eighteen, just at 


* y. Introduction: ‘“‘The Symbols and Attributes of the 
Virgin.’ 


THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 149 


the period when the Pope’s ordinance was pre- 
tlaimed at Seville. 


Of twenty-five pictures of this subject, painted 
by Murillo, there are not two exactly alike; and 
they are of all sizes, from the colossal figure called 
the ‘‘ Great Conception of Seville,” to the exquisite 
miniature representation in the possession of Lord 
. Overston, not more than fifteen inches in height 
Lord Lansdowne has also a beautiful small “ Con- 
ception,” very simply treated. In those which have 
dark hair, Murillo is said to have taken his daugh- 
ter Francisca as a model. The number of attend- 
ant angels varies from one or two, to thirty. They 
bear the palm, the olive, the rose, the lily, the mir- 
ror; sometimes a sceptre and crown. I remem- 
ber but few instances in which he has introduced 
the dragon-fiend, an omission which Pacheco is 
willing to forgive; “for,” as he observes, “no man 
ever painted the devil with good-will.” 

In the Louvre picture (No. 1124), the Virgin is 
adored by three ecclesiastics. In another example, 
quoted by Mr. Stirling (Artists of Spain, p. 839), 
a friar is seen writing at her feet: this figure prob- 
ably represents her champion, the friar Duns 
Scotus. There is at Hampton Court a picture, by 
Spagnoletto, of this same Duns Scotus writing ns 
defence of the Immaculate Conception. Spagno- 
letto was painting at Naples, when, in 1618, “ the 
Viceroy solemnly swore, in presence of the as- 
sembled multitude, to defend with his life the dor 


{50 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA 


.rine of the Immaculate Conception ;” and this pic- 
‘ure, curious and striking in its way, was painted 
about the same time. 


In Italy, the decline of Art in the seventeenth 
ventury is nowhere more apparent, nor more of- 
fensive, than in this subject. A finished example 
of the most execrable taste is the mosaic in St. 
Peter’s, after Pietro Bianchi. There exists, some- | 
where, a picture of the Conception, by Le Brun, 
in which the Virgin has no other drapery than a 
thin, transparent gauze, and has the air of a Venus 
Meretrix. In some old French prints, the Virgin 
is surrounded by a number of angels, defending 
her with shield and buckler against demons who 
are taking aim at her with fiery arrows. Such, 
and even worse, vagaries and perversities, are to be 
found in the innumerable pictures of this favourite 
subject, which inundated the churches , between 
1640 and 1720. Of these I shall say no more. 
The pictures of Guido and Murillo, and the carved 
figures of Alonzo Cano, Montanez, and Hernan- 
dez, may be regarded as authorized efligies of “ Our 
Lady of the most. pure Conception ;” in other words, 
as embodying, in the most attractive, decorous, and 
intelligible form,: an. abstract theological dogma, 
which is in itself one of the most curious, and, in its 
results, one of the most important of the religious 
phenomena connected with the artistic representa 
tions of the Virgin.* 

* We often find on pictures and prints of the Immaculate Con 


THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 151 


We must be careful to discriminate between the 
Conception, so styled by ecclesiastical authority, and - 
that singular and mystical representation which is 
sometimes called the “ Predestination of Mary,” 
and sometimes the “ Litanies of the Virgin.” Col- 
lectors and writers on art must bear in mind, that 
the former, as a subject, dates only from the begin- 
ning of the seventeenth century, the latter from 
the beginning of the sixteenth. Although, as rep- 
resentations, so very similar, yet the intention and 
meaning are different. In the Conception it is the 
sinless Virgin in her personal character, who is 
held up to reverence, as the purest, wisest, holiest, 
of created beings. The earlier theme involves a 
yet more recondite signification. It is, undoubt- 
edly, to be regarded as an attempt on the part of 
the artist to express, in a visible form, the idea or 
promise of the redemption of the human race, as 
existing in the Sovereign Mind before the begin- 
ning of things. They do not personify this idea 
under the image of Christ, —for they conceived 
that, as the second person of the Trinity, he could 
not be his own instrument, — but by the image of 


seption, certain scriptural texts which the theologians of the 
Roman Church have applied to the Blessed Virgin ; for instance, 
from Ps. xliv. Omnis gloria ejus filié regis ab intus, — ‘*‘ The 
king’s daughter is all glorious within ;”’ or from the Canticles 
v. 7, Tota pulchra es amica mea, et macula non est in te,— 

fhou art all fair, my love, thereis no spot in thee.’’? I have also 
twen the texts, Ps. xxii. 10, and Prov. viii. 22, 23, xxxi. 29, thus 
applied, as well as other passages from the very pretical office of 
the Virgin In Festo Immaculate Conceptionis. 


152 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Mary surrounded by those attributes which were 
afterwards introduced into the pictures of the Con- 
ception ; or setting her foot, as second Eve, on the 
head of the prostrate serpent. Not seldom, in a 
series of subjects from the Old Testament, the pen- 
dant to Eve holding the apple is Mary crushing the 
head of the fiend; and thus the “bane and anti- 
dote are both before us.” This is the proper inter 
pretation of those effigies, so prevalent in every 
form of art during the sixteenth century, and 
which are often, but erroneously, styled the Immac- 
ulate Conception. 

The numerous heads of the Virgin which pro- 
ceeded from the later schools of Italy and Spain, 
wherein she appears neither veiled nor crowned, 
but very young, and with flowing hair and white 
vesture, are intended to embody the popular idea 
of the Madonna purissima, of “the Virgin most 
pure, conceived without sin,” in an abridged form. 
There is one by Murillo, in the collection of Mr. 
Holford; and another by Guido, which will give an 
idea of the treatment. 

Before quitting the subject of the Immaculate 
Conception, I must refer to a very curious picture * 
ealled an Assumption, but certainly painted at least 
one hundred years before the Immaculate Concep- 
tion was authorized as a Church subject. 

From the year 1496, when Sixtus IV. promul- 
gated his Bull, and the Sorbonne put forth their 


* Once in the collection of Mr. Solly, and nowin the posses 
ion of Mr. Bromley of Wootten. 


THE {MMACULATE CONCEPTION. 158 


famous decree, — at a time when there was less of 
faith and religious feeling in Italy than ever before, ' 
— this abstract dogma became a sort of watchword 
with theological disputants; not~ ecclesiastics only, 
the literati and the reigning powers took an inter- 
est in the controversy, and were arrayed on one 
side or the other. The Borgias, for instance, were 
opposed to it. Just at this period, the singular pic- 
ture I allude to was painted by Girolamo da Cotig- 
nola. It is mentioned by Lanzi, but his account 
of it is not quite correct. 

Above, in glory, is seen the Padre Eterno, sur- 
rounded by cherubim bearing a scroll, on which is 
mscribed, ** Non enim pro te sed pro omnibus hec 
lex constitutura est.”* Lower down the Virgin 
stands on clouds, with hands joined, and attired in 
a white tunic embroidered with gold, a blue mantle 
lined with red, and, which is quite singular and un- 
orthodox, black shoes. Below, on the earth, and 
to the right, stands a bishop without a glory, hold- 
ing a scroll, on which is inscribed, “ Non puto veré 
esse amatorem Virginis qui respuit celebrare Festum 
suc Conceptionis ;” on the left is St. Jerome. In 
the centre are three kneeling figures: on one side 
St. Catherine (or perhaps Caterina Sforza in the 
character of St. Catherine, for the head looks like 
a portrait) ; on the other an elderly woman, Gi- 
nevra ‘Tiepolo, widow of Giovanni Sforza, last 
prince of Pesaro; between them the little Cos 


* From the Office of the Blessed Virgin. 
* This Giovanni was the first husband of Lucrezia Borgia 


154 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


tanzo Sforza, looking up with a charming devout 
expression.* Underneath is inscribed, “ JuNI- 
PERA SFORTIA PATRIA A MARITO RECEPTA. 
Exvoro mcccocx.” Giovanni Sforza had been 
dispossessed of his dominions by the Borgias, afte1 
his divorce from Lucrezia, and died in 1501. The 
Borgias ceased to reign in 1512; and Ginevra, ap- 
parently restored to her country, dedicated this 
picture, at once a memorial of her gratitude and of 
her faith. It remained over the high-altar of the 
Church of the Serviti, at Pesaro, till acquired by 
Mr. Solly, from whom it was purchased by Mr. 
Bromley. ¢ 


* Lanzi calls this child Costanzo II., prince of Pesaro. Very 
Interesting memoirs of all the personages here referred to may 
be found in Mr. Dennistoun’s ** Dukes of Urbino.” 

+ Girolamo Marchesi da Cotignola was a painter of the Fran- 
cia school, whose works date from about 1506 to 1550. Those of 
his pictures which I have seen are of very unequal merit, and, 
with much feeling and expression in the heads, are offen man- 
nered and fantastic as compositions. This agrees with what 
Vasari says, that his excellence lay in portraiture, for which rea- 
son he was summoned, after the battle of Ravenna, to paint the 
portrait of Gaston de Foix, as he lay dead. (See Vasari, Vita di 
Bagnacavaillo; and in the English trans., vol. iii..831.) The 
picture above described, which has a sort of historical interest, 
is perhaps the same mentioned in Murray’s Handbook (Centra 
Italy, p. 110.) as an enthroned Madonna, dated 1513, and as be 
ing in 1848 in its original place over the altar in the Serviti ai 
Pesaro ; if so, it is there no longer. 


DEVOTIONAL SUBJECTS. 
————- -- 


PART II. 
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. 


1. LA VERGINE MADRE DI DIO. 2 LA MA: 
DRE AMABILE. 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ENTHRONED. 


Lat. Sancta Dei Genitrix. Virgo Deipara. Jtal. La Santissima 
Vergine, Madre di Dio. Fr. La Sainte Vierge, Mére de Dieu. 
Ger. Die Heilige Mutter Gottes. 


Tue Virgin in her maternal character opens 
upon us so wide a field of illustration, that I scarce 
know where to begin or how to find my way, amid 
the crowd of associations which press upon me. A 
mother holding her child in her arms is no very 
complex subject; but like a very simple air con- 
structed on a few expressive notes, which, when 
harmonized, is susceptible of a thousand modula- 
tions, and variations, and accompaniments, while the 
original motif never loses its power to speak to the 
heart; so it is with the MADONNA AND CHILD; — 
a subject so consecrated by its antiquity, so hal- 
lowed by its profound significance, so endeared by 
its associations with the softest and deepest of our 
human sympathies, that the mind has never wearied 


(56 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


of its repetition, nor the eye become satiated with 
its beauty. Those who refuse to give it the honour 
due to a religious representation, yet regard it with 
a tender half-unwilling homage; and when the 
glorified type of what is purest, loftiest, holiest in 
womanhood, stands before us, arrayed in all the 
majesty and beauty that accomplished Art, inspired 
oy faith and love, could lend her, and bearing her 
divine Son, rather enthroned than sustained on her 
maternal bosom, “we look, and the heart is in 
heaven !” and it is difficult, very difficult, to refrain 
from an Ora pro Nobis. But before we attempt to 
classify these lovely and popular effigies, in all their 
infinite variety, from the enthroned grandeur of the 
Queen of Heaven, the SANctaA Der GENITRIX, 
down to the peasant mother, swaddling or suckling 
her infant, or to interpret the innumerable shades 
of significance conveyed by the attendant accesso- 
ries, we must endeavour to trace the representation 
itself to its origin. 

This is difficult. There exists no proof, I believe, 
that the effigies of the Virgin with the infant Christ 
in her arms, which existed before the end of the 
fifth century, were placed before Christian worship- 
pers as objects of veneration. They appear to 
have been merely groups representing a particular 
incident of the New Testament, namely, the ade- 
ration of the Magi; for I find no other in which 
the mother is seated with the infant Christ, and this 
is an historical subject of which we shall have te 
speak hereafter. From the beginning of the fourth 


THE NESTORIAN CONTROVERSY. 153 


rentury, that is, from the time of Constantine and 
the condemnation of Arius, the popular reverence 
for the Virgin, the Mother of Christ, had been 
gaining ground; and at the same time the intro- 
duction of images and pictures into the places of 
worship and into the houses of Christians, as orna< 
ments on glass vessels and even embroidered on 
garments and curtains, became more and more 
diffused. (v. Neander’s Church History.) 

The earliest effigies of the Virgin and Child may 
pe traced to Alexandria, and to Egyptian influ- 
ences; and it is as easily conceivable that the time- 
consecrated Egyptian myth of Isis and Horus may 
have suggested the original type, the outward form 
and the arrangement of the maternal group, as 
that the classical Greek types of the Orpheus and 
Apollo should have furnished the early symbols of 
the Redeemer as the Good Shepherd ; a fact which 
does not rest upon supposition, but of which the 
proofs remain to us in the antique Christian sculp- 
tures and the paintings in the catacombs. 

The most ancient Greek figures of the Virgin 
and Child have perished; but, as far as I can learn, 
there is no evidence that these effigies were recog- 
nized by the Church as sacred before the begin- 
ning of the sixth century. It was the Nestorian 
schism which first gave to the group of the Mother 
bearing her divine Son that religious importance 
and significance which it has ever since retainea 
m Catholic countries. 

The divinity of Christ and his miraculous con- 

re 


158 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


eeption, once established as articles of belief, natu- 
rally imparted to Mary, his mother, a dignity be- 
yond that of other mothers: her Son was God ; 
therefore the title of Morner or GoD was as« 
signed to her. When or by whom first brought 
into use, does not appear; but about the year 400 
it became a popular designation. 

Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople in 428, had 
begun by persecuting the Arians; but while he in- 
sisted that in Jesus were combined two persons and 
two natures, he insisted that the Virgin Mary was 
the mother of Christ considered as man, but not the 
mother of Christ considered as God ; and that, con- 
sequently, all those who gave her the title of Dei 
Genitrix, Deipara,* were in error. There were 
many who adopted these opinions, but by a large 
portion of the Church they were repudiated with 
horror, as utterly subverting the doctrine of the 
mystery of the Incarnation. Cyril of Alexandria 
opposed Nestorius and his followers, and defended 
with zealous enthusiasm the claims of the Virgin to 
all the reverence and worship due to her ; for, as 
he argued, the two natures being one and indivisi- 
ble from the moment of the miraculous conception, 
it followed that Mary did indeed bring forth God, — 
was, in fact, the mother of God; and all who took 
away from her this dignity and title were in error 
and to be condemned as heretics. 

I hope I shall not be considered irreverent in 


* The inscription on the Greek and Byzantine pictures is 
usually MHP OY (Marnp Geod). 


oT aaa 
a 


THE NESTORIAN CONTROVERSY. 152 


thus plainly and simply stating the grounds of this 
velebrated schism, with reference to its influence on ~ 
Art; an influence incalculable, not only at the 
time, but ever since that time; of which the mani- 
fold results, traced from century to century down 
to the present hour, would remain quite unintelli- 
gible, unless we clearly understood the origin and 
the issue of the controversy. 

Cyril, who was as enthusiastic and indomitable 
as Nestorius, and had the advantage of taking the 
positive against the negative side of the question, 
anathematized the doctrines of his opponent, in a 
synod held at Alexandria in 430, to which Pope 
Celestine II. gave the sanction of his authority. 
The emperor Theodosius II. then called a general 
council at Ephesus in 431, before which Nestorius 
refused to appear, and was deposed from his dig- 
nity of patriarch by the suffrages of 200 bishops. 
But this did not put an end to the controversy ; the 
streets of Ephesus were disturbed by the brawls 
and the pavement of the cathedral was literally 
stained with the blood of the contending parties 
Theodosius arrested both the patriarchs; but after 
the lapse of only a few days, Cyril triumphed over 
his adversary: with him triumphed the cause of the 
Virgin. Nestorius was deposed and exiled; his 
writings condemned to the flames; but still the 
opinions he had advocated were adopted by num- 
bers, who were regarded as heretics by those whe 
ialled themselves “ the Catholic Church.” 

The long continuance of this controversy, the 


2.60 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


obstinacy of the Nestorians, the passionate zeal ot 
those who held the opposite doctrines, and theit 
ultimate triumph when the Western Churches of 
Rome and Carthage declared in their favour, all 
tended to multiply and disseminate far and wide 
throughout Christendom those images of the Virgin 
which exhibited her as Mother of the Godhead. 
At length the ecclesiastical authorities, headed by 
Pope Gregory the Great, stamped them as ortho- 
dox: and as the cross had been the primeval sym- 
bol which distinguished the Christian from the 
Pagan, so the image of the Virgin Mother with 
her Child now became the symbol which distin- 
guished the Catholic Christian from the Nestorian 
Dissenter. 

Thus it appears that if the first religious repre- 
sentations of the Virgin and Child were not a con- 
sequence of the Nestorian schism, yet the conse- 
cration of such effigies as the visible form of a 
theological dogma to the purposes of worship and 
ecclesiastical decoration must date from the Coun- 
cil of Ephesus in 431; and their popularity and 
general diffusion throughout the western Churches, 
from the pontificate of Gregory in the beginning 
of the seventh century. 

In the most ancient of these effigies which re- 
main, we have clearly only a symbol; a half fig- 
ure, veiled, with hands outspread, and the half 
figure of a child placed against her bosom, without 
any sentiment, without even the action of sustain- 
ing him. Such was the formal but quite intelligi- 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ENTHRONED. 161 


dle siga; but it soon became more it became a 
“epresentation. As it was in the Hast that the” 
zause of the Virgin first triumphed, we might nat- 
urally expect to find the earliest examples in the 
old Greek churches; but these must have perished 
in the furious onslaught made by the Iconoclasts on 
all the sacred images. The controversy between 
the image-worshippers and the image-breakers, 
which distracted the East for more than a century 
(that is, from 726 to 84°), did not, however, ex- 
tend to the west of kurope. We find the primeval 
Byzantine type, or at least the exact reproduction 
of it, in the most ancient western churches, and 
preserved to us in the mosaics of Rome, Ravenna, 
and Capua. These remains are nearly all of the 
same date, much later than the single figures of 
Christ as Redeemer, and belonging unfortunately 
to a lower period and style of art. The true sig- 
nificance of the representation is not, however, left 
doubtful ; for all the earliest traditions and inscrip- 
tions are in this agreed, that such effigies were in- 
‘ended as a confession of faith; an acknowledg- 
ment of the dignity of the Virgin Mary, as the 
“Sancta Der GENITRIX;” as a visible refutation 
of “the infamous, iniquitous, and sacrilegious doc- 
trines of Nestorius the Heresiarch.” * 


As these ancient mosaic figures of the Virgin, 
* Mostrando quod ipsa Detpara esset contra impiam Nestoria 


Terestum quam talem esse iste nefandus Heresiarco negabat 
Vide Ciampini, and Munter’s ‘ Sinzbilder.” 


62 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


enthroned with her infant Son, were the precursors 
and models of all that was afterwards conceived 
and executed in art, we must examine them in de- 
tail before proceeding further. 

The mosaic of the cathedral of Capua representa 
in the highest place the half figure of Christ in the 
act of benediction. In one of the spandrels, to the 
right, is the prophet Isaiah, bearing a scroll, on 
which is inscribed, Ecce Dominus in fortitudine 
veniet, et brachium ejus dominibatur, —“ 'The Lord 
God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall 
rule for him.” (Isaiah, ch. xl. v.10.) On the left 
stands Jeremiah, also with a scroll and the words, 
Fortissime, magne, et potens Dominus exercitwum no- 
men tibi, —“ The great, the mighty God, the Lord 
of hosts is his name.” (Jeremiah, ch. xxxii. v. 18.) 
In the centre of the vault beneath, the Virgin is 
seated on a rich throne, a footstool under her feet; 
she wears a crown over her veil. Christ, seated 
on her knee, and clothed, holds a cross in his left 
hand; the right is raised in benediction. On one 
side of the throne stand St. Peter and St. Stephen ; 
on the other St. Paul and St. Agatha, to whom the 
church is dedicated. The Greek monogram of the 
Virgin is inscribed below the throne. 

The next in date which remains visible, is the group 
im the apsis of S. Maria-della-Navicella (Rome), ex- 
ecuted about 820,in the time of Paschal I.,a pon- 
iff who was very remarkable for the zeal with 
which he rebuilt and adorned the then half-ruined 
ehurches of Rome. The Virgin, of colossal size, is 





THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ENTHRONED. 168 


peated on a throne; her robe and veil are blue 
the infant Christ, in a gold-coloured vest, is seated 
m her lap, and raises his hand to bless the worship- 
pers. On each side of the Virgin is a group of 
adoring angels; at her feet kneels the diminutive 
ficure of Pope Paschal. 

In the Santa Maria-Nova (called also, “Santa 
Francesca,” Rome), the Virgin is seated on a throne 
wearing a rich crown, as queen of heaven. The 
infant Christ stands upon her knee; she has one 
hand on her bosom and sustains him with the 
other. ; 

On the facade of the portico of the S. Maria-in- 
Trastevere at Rome, the Virgin is enthroned, and 
crowned, and giving her breast to the Child. This 
mosaic is of later date than that in the apsis, but is 
one of the oldest examples of a representation 
which was evidently directed against the heretical 
doubts of the Nestorians: “ How,” said they, plead- 
ing before the council of Ephesus, “can we call 
him God who is only two or three months old; or 
guppose the Logos to have been suckled and to in- 
wrease im wisdom?” The Virgin in the act of 
suckling her Child, is a motif often since repeated 
when the original significance was forgotten. 

In the chapel of San Zeno (Rome), the Virgin 
is enthroned ; the Child is seated on her knee. He 
holds a scroll, on which are the words Ego sum lua. 
mundi, “I am the light of the world ” the right 
hand is raised in benediction. A ove is the mono 


gram M-P OY, Mania Mater Det. 


164 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


In the ntosaics, from the eighth to the eleventh 
century, we find Art at a very lowebb. The back 
ground is flat gold, not a blue heaven with its gold- 
en stars, as in the early mosaics of the fifth and 
sixth centuries. The figures are ill-proportioned- 
the faces consist of lines without any attempt at 
form or expression. ‘The draperies, however, have 
a certain amplitude; “and the character of a few 
accessories, for example, the crown on the Virgin’ 
head, instead of the invariable Byzantine veil, be- 
trays,” says Kugler, “a northern and probably a 
Frankish influence.” The attendant saints, gen- 
erally St. Peter and St. Paul, stand stiff and up- 
right on each side. 

But with all their faults, these grand, formal, sig- 
nificant groups — or rather not groups, for there was 
as yet no attempt either at grouping or variety of ac- 
tion, for that would have been considered irreverent 
— but these rows of figures, were the models of the 
early Italian painters and mosaic-workers in their 
large architectural mosaics and altar-pieces set up 
in the churches during the revival of Art, from the 
period of Cimabue and Andrea Tafi down to the 
latter half of the thirteenth century: all partook of 
this lifeless, motionless character, and were, at the 
same time, touched with the same solemn religious 
‘eeling. And long afterwards, when the arrange- 
iment became less formal and conventional, their in- 
fluence may still be traced in those noble enthroned 
Madonnas, which represent the Virgin as queen of 
heaven and of angels, either alone, or with attend 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ENTHRONED. 163 


ant saints, and martyrs, and venerable confessors 
waiting round her state. 

The general disposition of the two figures varies 
but little in the earliest examples which exist for us 
in painting, and which are, in fact, very much 
alike. ‘The Madonna seated on-a-throne, wearing 
a red tunic and a blue mantle, part of which is 
drawn as a veil over her head, holds the infant 
~Christ, clothed in a red or blue tunic. She looks 
straight out of the picture with her head a little de- 
clined to one side. Christ has the right hand raised 
“in benediction, and the other extended. Such were 
“the simple, majestic, and decorous effigies, the legit- 
imate successors of the old architectural mosaics, 
and usually placed over the high altar of a church 
or chapel. The earliest examples which have 
been preserved are for that reason celebrated in 
the history of Art. 

The first is the enthroned Virgin of Guido da 
Siena, who preceded Cimabue by twenty or thirty 
years. In this picture, the Byzantine conception 
and style of execution are adhered to, yet with a 
softened sentiment, a touch of more natural, life- 
like feeling, particularly in the head of the Child. 
The expression in the face of the Virgin struck me 
as very gentle and attractive; but it has been, 1 
am afraid, retouched, so that we cannot be quite 
sure that we have the original features. Fortu- 
nately Guido has placed a date on his work, 
mMCCXXI., and also inscribed on it a distich, which 
shows that he felt, with some consciousness and 


166 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


self-complacency, his superiority to his Byzantine 
models : — 


“*Me Guido de Senis diebus depinxit amoenis 
Quem Christus lenis nullis velit angere peenis.” * 


Next we may refer to the two colossal Madonnag 
by Cimabue, preserved at Florence. The first, 
which was painted for the Vallombrosian monks of 
the S. Trinita, is now in the gallery of the acad« 
emy. It has all the stiffness and coldness of the 
Byzantine manner. There are three adoring 
angels on each side, disposed one above another, 
and four prophets are placed below in separate 
niches, half figures, holding in their hands their 
prophetic scrolls, as in the old mosaic at Capua, al- 
ready described. The second is preserved in the 
Ruccellai chapel, in the S. Maria Novella, in its 
original place. In spite of its colossal size, and 
formal attitude, and severe style, the face of this 
Madonna is very striking, and has been well de- 
scribed as “ sweet and unearthly, reminding you of 
a sibyl.” The infant Christ is also very fne. There 
are three angels on each side, who seem to sustain 
the carved chair or throne on which the Madonna 
-\s seated ; and the prophets, instead of being below, 
are painted in small circular medallions down each 
side of the frame. The throne and the background 
wre covered with gold. Vasari gives a very graphic 


* The meaning, for it is not easy to translate literally, is ‘* Me 
sath painte1, in pleasant days, Guido af Siena, Upon whose som 
may Christ deign to have mercy!” 


THE VIRGIN ANI CHILD ENTHRONED. 167 


and animated account of the estimation in which 
this picture was held when first executed. Its co- 
lossal dimensions, though familiar in the great mo- 
saics, were hitherto unknown in painting; and not 
less astonishing appeared the deviation, though 
slight, from ugliness and lifelessness into grace 
and nature. ‘“ And thus,” he says, “it happened 
that this work was an object of so much admiration 
to the people of that day, they having never seen 
anything better, that it was carried in solemn pro- 
cession, with the sound of trumpets and other festal 
demonstrations, from the house of Cimabue to the 
church, he himself being highly rewarded and hon- 
oured for it. It is further reported, and may be 
read in certain records of old painters, that, whilst 
Cimabue was painting this picture, in a garden 
near the gate of San Pietro, King Charles the 
Elder, of Anjou, passed through Florence, and the 
authorities of the city, among other marks of re- 
spect, conducted him to see the picture of Cimabue. 
When this work was thus shown to the King it had 
not befure been seen by any one; wherefore all the 
men and women of Florence hastened in crowds 
to admire it, making all possible demonstrations of 
delight. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood, re- 
joicing in this occurrence, ever afterwards called 
that place Borgo Allegri; and this name it has ever 
since retained, although in process of time it be- 
vame enclosed within the walls of the city.” 


In the strictly devotional representations of the 


168 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Virgin and Child, she is invariably seated, til 


_the end of the thirteenth _ century ; and for the — 


“next hundred years the innovation of a standing 
“figure was—confined_to sculpture. An early ex- 
ample is the beautiful statue by Niccold Pisano, 
in the Capella della Spina at Pisa; and others will 
be found in Cicognara’s work (Storia della Scul- 
tura Moderna). The Gothic cathedrals, of the 
thirteenth century, also exhibit some most graceful 
examples of the Madonna in sculpture, standing on 
a pedestal, crowned or veiled, sustaining on her left 
arm the divine Child, while in her right she holds 
a scéptre or perhaps a flower. Such crowned or 


sceptred effigies of the Virgin were placed on the 
central pillar which usually divided the great door. 


of a church into two equal parts; in reference to 
‘the text, “I am the poor; by me if any man enter 
in, he shall be saved.” In Roman Catholic coun- 
tries we find such effigies set up at the corners of 
streets, over the doors of houses, and the gates of 
gardens, sometimes rude and coarse, sometimes ex- 
ceedingly graceful, according to the period of art 
and skill of the local artist. Here the Virgin ap- 
' pears in her character of Protectress — our Lady 
uf Grace, or our Lady of Succour. 


In pictures, we rarely find the Virgin standing, 
before the end of the fourteenth century. An al- 
nost singular example is to be found in an old 
Greek Madonna, venerated as miraculous, in the 
Cathedral of Orvieto, under the title of Za Madonna 


a 


ae 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ENTHRONED. 169 


Wi San Brizio, and to which is attributed a fabulous 
antiquity. I may be mistaken, but my impression, 
pn seeing it, was, that it could not be older than 
the end of the thirteenth century. The crowns 
worn by the Virgin and Christ are even more mod- 
ern, and out of character with the rest of the paint- 
ing. In Italy the pupils of Giotto first began to 
represent the Virgin standing on a raised dais. 
There is an example by Puccio Capanna, engraved 
in d’Agincourt’s work ; but such figures are very 
uncommon. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centu- 
ries they occur more frequently in the pyc 
than in the Italian schools. - 
In the simple enthroned Madonna, variations of 
attitude and sentiment were gradually introduced. 
The Virgin, instead of supporting her Son with 
both hands, embraces him with one hand, and with 
the other points to him; or raises her right hand 
to bless the worshipper. Then the Child caresses 
his mother, — a charming and natural idea, but a 
deviation from the solemnity of the purely religious 
significance ; better imagined, however, to convey 
the relation between the mother and child, than 
vhe Virgin suckling her infant, to which I have 
already alluded in its early religious, or rather con- 
troversial meaning. It is not often that the en- 
throned Virgin is thus occupied. Mr. Rogers had 
in his collection an exquisite example where the 
Virgin, seated in state on a magnificent throne 
ander a Gothic canopy and crowned as queen of 
heaven, offers her breast to the divine Infant 


170 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Then the Mother adores her. Child.-This ia 
properly the Madre Pia afterwards so beautifully 
varied. He lies extended on her knee, and_she 
_ looks down upon _him-with hands folded in prayer 
or she places her hand under his foot, an attitude 
which originally implied her acknowledgment of 
his his sovereignty and superiority, but was continued 
asa natural motif when the figurative and relig- 
ious meaning was no longer considered. Some- 
times the Child looks up in his mother’s face with his 
finger on his lip, expressing the Verbum- “sum, 1 
am as Word.” Sometimes the Child, bending for- 
wards from his mother’s knee, dooks down benignly 
on the worshippers, who are supposed to be-kneel- 
ing at the foot of the altar. Sometimes, but very 
rarely he sleeps; never in the earliest examples; 
for to exhibit the young Redeemer asleep, where 
he is an object of worship, was then a species of 
solecism. 

When the enthroned Virgin is represented hold- 
ing a book, or reading, while the infant Christ, 
perhaps, lays his hand upon it —a variation in the 
first simple treatment not earlier than the end of 
the fourteenth century, and very significant — she 
is then the_Virgo Sapientissima, the most Wise — 
Virgin; or the Mother of Wisdom, Mater Sapi:. 
entice ; and_the book she holds is the Book of Wis- 
“‘dom-* This is the proper interpretation whera 


* L’Abbé Crosnier, ‘“‘Iconographie Chrétienne;” but the 
kook as an attribute had another meaning, for which, see the 
Introduction. 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ENTHRONED. 171 


ine Virgin is seated on her throne. In a most 
beautiful picture by Granacci (Berlin Gal.), she is 
thus enthroned, and reading intently; while John 
the Baptist and St. Michael stand on each side. 


With regard to costume, the colours in which the 
enthroned Virgin-Mother was arrayed scarcely 
ever varied from the established rule: her tunic 
was to be red, her mantle blue;—red,-the-eoleur-ef-— 

_ love, and religious aspiration ; blue, the colour of _ 


constancy and heavenly purity. In the-pictures.of-——~ 


“the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and down 
to the early part of the fifteenth, these colours are 
of a soft and delicate tint, —rose and pale azure; but 
afterwards, when powerful effects of colour became 
a study, we have the intense crimson, and the dark 
blue verging on purple. Sometimes the blue man- 
tle is brought over her head, sometimes she wears a 
white veil, in other instances the queenly crown. 
Sometimes (but very rarely when she is throned as 
the Regina Celi) she has no covering or ornament 
on her head; and her fair hair parted on her brow, 
flows down on either side in long luxuriant tresses. 

In the Venetian and German pictures, she is 
often most gorgeously arrayed; her crown studded 
with jewels, her robe covered with embroidery, or 
oordered with gold and pearls. The ornamental 
parts of her dress and throne were sometimes, to 
mcerease the magnificence of the effect, raised in 
relief and gilt. To the early German painters, we 
might too often apply the sarcasm of Apelles, whe 


L72 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


said of his rival, that, “not being able to make 
Venus beautiful he had made her fine ;” but some 
of the Venetian Madonnas are lovely as well as 
splendid. Gold was often used, and in great pro- 
fusion, in some of the Lombard pictures even of a 
late date; for instance, by Carlo Crivelli: before 
the middle of the sixteenth century, this was con- 
sidered barbaric. The best Italian painters gave 
the Virgin ample, well disposed drapery, but dis- 
pensed with ornament. The star embroidered on 
her shoulder, so often retained when all other orna- 
ment was banished, expresses her title “Stella 
Maris.” I have seen some old pictures, in which 
she wears a ring on the third finger. This ex- 
presses her dignity as the Sposa as well as the 
Mother. 

With regard to the divine Infant, he is, in the 
early pictures, invariably draped, and it is not till 
the beginning of the fifteenth century that we find 
him first partially and then wholly undraped. In 
tbe old representations, he wears a long tunic with 
full sleeves, fastened with a girdle. It is sometimes 
of gold stuff embroidered, sometimes white, crim- 
son, or blue. This almost regal robe was after- 
wards exchanged for a little semi-transparent shirt 
without sleeves. In pictures of the throned Ma- 
donna painted expressly for nunneries, the Child 
8, I believe, always clothed, or the Mother partly 
infolds him in her own drapery. In the Umbrian 
pictures of the fifteenth century, the Infant often 
wears a coral necklace, then and now worn by 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ENTHRONED. 173 


élildren in that district, as a charm against the evil 
eye. In the Venetian pictures he has sometimes a 
coronal of pearls. In the carved and painted im- 
ages set up in churches, he wears, like his mother, 
a rich crown over a curled wig, and is hung round 
with jewels; but such images must be considered as 
out of the pale of legitimate art. 


Of the various objects placed in the hand of 
the Child as emblems I have already spoken, and 
of their sacred significance as such, — the globe, 
the book, the bird, the flower, &c. In the works 
of the ignorant secular artists of later times, these 
symbols of power, or divinity, or wisdom, became 
mere playthings; and when they had become fa- 
miliar, and required by custom, and the old sacred 
associations utterly forgotten, we find them most 
profanely applied and misused. To give one ex- 
ample:—the bird was originally placed in the 
hand of Christ as the emblem of the soul, or of the 
spiritual as opposed to the earthly nature; in a 
picture by Baroccio, he holds it up before a cat, to 
be frightened and tormented.* But to proceed. 

The throne on which the Virgin is seated, is, in 
very early pictures, merely an embroidered cushion 
on a sort of stool, or a carved Gothic chair, such as 
we see in the thrones and stalls of cathedrals. It 


*In the “ History of Our Lord, as illustrated in the Fine 
Arts,”’ the devotional and characteristic effigies of the infant 
Christ, and the accompanying attributes, vill be treated ai 
ength. 


12 


174 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


is afterwards converted into a rich architectura: 
throne, most elaborately adorned, according to the 
taste and skill of the artist. Sometimes, as in the 
early Venetian pictures, it is hung with garlands of 
fruits and flowers, most fancifully disposed. Some- 
times the arabesque ornaments are raised in relief 
and gilt. Sometimes the throne is curiously painted 
to imitate various marbles, and adorned with me< 
dallions and bas-reliefs from those subjects of the 
Old Testament which have a reference to the char- 
acter of the Virgin and the mission of her divine 
Child; the commonest of all being the Fall, which 
rendered a Redeemer necessary. Moses striking 
the rock (the waters of life) — the elevation of the 
brazen serpent — the gathering of the manna — or 
Moses holding the broken tablets of the old law, 
all types of redemption, are often thus introduced 
as ornaments. In the sixteenth century, when 
the purely religious sentiment had declined, and a 
classical and profane taste had infected every de- 
partment of art and literature, we find the throne 
of tne Virgin adorned with classical ornaments and 
bas-reliefs from the antique remains; as, for in- 
stance, the hunt of Theseus and Hippolyta. We 
must then suppose her throned on the ruins of 
paganism, an idea suggested by the old legends, 
which represent the temples and statues of the hea- 
then gods as falling into ruin on the approach of 
the Virgin and her Child; and a more picturesque 
application of this idea afterwards became common 
m other subjects. In Garofalo’s picture the throne 


a: 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ENTHRONED. 175 


is adorned with Sphinxes— & antique. Andrea 
del Sarto has placed harpies at the corner of the 
pedestal of the throne, in his famous Madonna a 
San Francesco (Florence Gal.), — a gross fault in 
that otherwise grand and faultless picture; one of 
those desecrations of a religious theme which An 
drea, as devoid of religious feeling as he was weak 
and dishonest, was in the habit of committing. 


But whatever the material or style of the throne, __ 


whether simple or gorgeous, it is supposed to be a 
heavenly throne. It is not of the earth, nor on the 
earth; and at first it was alone and unapproach- 
able. The Virgin-mother, thus seated in her maj- 
esty, apart from all human beings, and in commun- 
ion only with the Infant Godhead on her knee, or 
the living worshippers who come to lay down their 
eares and sorrows at the foot of her throne and 
breathe a devout “ Salve Regina!” — is, through 
its very simplicity and concentrated interest, a 
sublime conception. The effect of these fig- 
ures, in their divine quietude and loveliness, can 
never be appreciated when hung in a gallery or 
room with other pictures, for admiration, or criti 
cism, or comparison. I remember well suddenly 
discovering such a Madonna, in a retired chapel in 
S. Francesco della Vigna at Venice, —a picture } 
had never heard of, by a painter then quite un- 
known to me, Fra Antonio da Negroponte, a Fran- 
eiscan friar who lived in the fifteenth century. 
The calm dignity of the attitude, the sweetness, the 
adoring love in the face of the queenly mother as 


76 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


with folded hands she looked down on the divine 
Infant reclining on her knee, so struck upon my 
heart, that I remained for minutes quite motionless, 
In this picture, nothing can exceed the gorgeous 
splendor of the Virgin’s throne and apparel: she 
wears a jewelled crown; the Child a coronal of 
pearls; while the background is composed entirely 
of the mystical roses twined in a sort of treillage. 

I remember, too, a picture by Carlo Crivelli, in 
which the Virgin is seated on a throne, adorned, in 
the artist’s usual style, with rich festoons of fruit 
and flowers. She is most sumptuously crowned 
and apparelled; and the beautiful Child on her 
knee, grasping her hand as if to support himself, 
with the most naive and graceful action bends for- 
ward and looks down benignly on the worshippers 
supposed to be kneeling below. 

When human personages were admitted within 
the same compartment, the throne was generally 
raised by several steps, or placed on a lofty pedes- 
tal, and till the middle of the fifteenth century it 
was always in the centre of the composition front- 
ing the spectator. It was a Venetian inncvation 
to place the throne at one side of the pictue, and 
show the Virgin in profile or in the act of turning 
round. This more scenic disposition became after- 
wards, in the passion for variety and effect, too pal- 
pably artificial, and at length forced and theatrical. 

The Italians distinguish between the Madonna in 
[rono and the Madonna in Gloria. When human 
heings, however sainted and exalted were admitted 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ENTHRONED. 1772 


within the margin of the picture, the divine dignity 
pf the Virgin as Madre di Dio, was often expressed 
by elevating her wholly above the earth, and plac- 
ing her “in regions mild of calm and serene air,” 
with the crescent or the rainbow under her feet. 
This is styled a “Madonna in Gloria.” It is, in 
fact, a return to the antique conception of the en- 
throned Redeemer, seated on a rainbow, sustained 
by the “curled clouds,” and encircled by a glory 
of cherubim. The aureole of light, within which 
the glorified Madonna and her Child when in a 
standing position are often placed, is of an oblong 
form, called from its shape the mandorla, “ the al- 
raond ;”* but in general she is seated above m a 
sort of ethereal exaltation, while the attendant saints 
stand on the earth below. This beautiful arrange- 
ment, though often very sublimely treated, has not 
the simple austere dignity of the throne of state. 
and when the Virgin and Child, as in the works 
of the late Spanish and Flemish painters, are 
formed out of earth’s most coarse and common- 
place materials, the aérial throne of floating fantas- 
tic clouds suggests a disagreeable discord, a fear 
lest the occupants of heaven should fall on the 
heads of their worshippers below. Not so the Vir- 
pins of the old Italians; for they look so divinely 
ethereal that they seem uplifted by their own spir- 
ituality : not even the air-borne clouds are needed 
to sustain them. They have no touch of earth or 
warth’s material beyond tke human form; their 
* Or the “‘ Vescica Pisces ”’ by Lord Lindsay and others. 


178 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


proper place is the seventh heaven ; and there they 
repose, a presence and a power —a personification 
of infinite mercy sublimated by innocence and 
purity ; and thence they look down on their wor- 
shippers and attendants, while these gaze upwards 
“ with looks commercing with the skies.” 


And now of these angelic and sainted accesso- 
ries, however placed, we must speak at length; for 
much of the sentiment and majesty of the Ma- 
donna effigies depend on the proper treatment of 
the attendant figures, and on the meaning they 
convey to the observer. 


The Virgin is entitled, by authority of the Church, 
queen of angels, of prophets, of apostles, of mar- 
tyrs, of virgins, and of confessors; and from among 
these her attendants are selected. 

ANGELS were first admitted, waiting immediately 
round her chair of state. A signal instance is the 
group of the enthroned Madonna, attended by the 
four archangels, as we find it in the very ancient 
mosaic in Sant-Apollinare-Novo, at- Ravenna. As 
the belief in the superior power and sanctity of the 
Blessed Virgin grew and spread, the angels no 
longer attended her as princes of the heavenly 
host, guardians, or councillors; they became, in 
the early pictures, adoring angels, sustaining her 
throne on each side, or holding up the embroidered 
curtain which forms the background. In the Ma 
donna by Cimabue, which, if it be not the earlies 


THE VIRGIN AND CHIID. 179 


after the revival of art, was one of the first in 
which the Byzantine manner was softened and 
Italianized, we have six grand, solemn-looking an 
gels, three on each side of the throne, arranged 
perpendicularly one above another. The Virgin 
herself is of colossal proportions, far exceeding 
them in size, and looking out of her frame, “large 
asa goddess of the antique world.” In the other 
Madonna in the gallery of the academy, we have 
the same arrangement of the angels. Giotto di- 
versified this arrangement. He placed the angels 
kneeling at the foot of the throne, making music, 
and waiting on their divine Mistress as her celestial 
choristers, — a service the more fitting because she 
was not only queen of angels, but patroness of 
music and minstrelsy, in which character she has 
St. Cecilia as her deputy and delegate. This ac- 
companiment of the choral angels was one of the 
earliest of the accessories, and continued down to 
the latest times. They are most particularly lovely 
m the pictures of the fifteenth century. ‘They 
kneel and strike their golden lutes, or stand and 
sound their silver clarions, or sit like beautiful 
winged children on the steps of the throne, and 
pipe and sing as if their spirits were overflowing 
with harmony as well as love and adoration.* In 
@ curious picture of the enthroned Madonna and 
Child (Berlin Gal.), by Gentil Fabriano, a tree 
rises on each side of the throne, on which little 


* As in the picture by Lo Spagna in our Nationa Gallery 
Wo. 282. 


.80 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


red servaphim are perched like birds, singing and 
playing on musical instruments. In later times, 
they play and sing for the solace of the di- 
vine Infant, not merely adoring, but minister- 
ing: but these angels ministrant belong to an- 
other class of pictures. Adoration, not service, 
was required by the divine Child and his mother, 
when they were represented simply in their divine 
character, and placed far beyond earthly wants and 
earthly associations. 

There are examples where the angels in attend» 
ance bear, not harps or lutes, but the attributes of 
the Cardinal Virtues, as in an altar-piece by Tad- 
deo Gaddi at Florence. (Santa Croce, Rinucvini 
Chapel.) 

The partriarchs, prophets, and sibyls, all the 
personages, in fact, who lived under the old law, 
when forming, in a picture or altar-piece, part of 
the cortége of the throned Virgin, as types, or 
prophets, or harbingers of the Incarnation, are on 
the outside of that sacred compartment wherein 
she is seated with her Child. This was the case 
with all the human personages down to the end of 
the thirteenth century; and after that time, I find 
the characters of the Old Testament still excluded 
from the groups immediately round her throne. 
Their place was elsewhere allotted, at a more ree 
spectful distance. The only exceptions I can re- 
member, are King David and the patriarch Job 
and these only in late pictures, where David does 
not appear 1s prophet, but as the ancestor of the 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. 181i 


Redeemer; and Job, only at Venice, where he is 
& patron saint. . 

The four evangelists and the tvelve apostles are, 
in their collective character in relation to the Vir- 
gin, treated like the prophets, and placed around 
the altar-piece. Where we find one or more of 
the evangelists introduced into the group of attend- 
ant ‘“ Sanctities” on each side of her throne, it is 
not in their character of evangelists, but rather as 
patron saints. Thus St. Mark appears constantly 
in the Venetian pictures; but it is as the patron 
and protector of Venice. St. John the Evange- 
list, a favourite attendant on the Virgin, is near her 
in virtue of his peculiar relation to her and to 
Christ ; and he is also a popular patron saint. St. 
Luke and St. Matthew, unless they be patrons of 
the particular locality, or of the votary who pre- 
sents the picture, never appear. It is the same 
with the apostles in their collective character as 
such; we find them constantly, as statues, ranged 
on each side of the Virgin, or as separate figures. 
Thus they stand over the screen of St. Mark’s, at 
Venice, and also on the carved frames of the altar- 
pieces; but either from their number, or some other 
cause, they are seldom grouped round the en- 


throned Virgin. 


It is St. Joun THE Baptist who, next to the 
angels, seems to have been the first admitted toa 
propinquity with the divine persons. In Greek 
art, he is himself an angel, a messenger, and often 


182 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


represented with wings. He was especially vener- 
ated in the Greek Church in his character of pre- 
cursor of the Redeemer, and, as such, almost indis 
pensable in every sacred group; and it is, perhaps, 
to the early influence of Greek art on the selec- 
tion and arrangement of the accessory personages, 
that we owe the preéminence of John the Bap- 
tist. One of the most graceful, and appropriate, 
and familiar of all the accessory figures grouped 
with the Virgin and Child, is that of the young St. 
John (called in Italian San Giovannino, and in 
Spanish San Juanito). When first introduced, we 
find him taking the place of the singing or piping 
angels in front of the throne. He generally stands, 
“clad in his raiment of camel’s hair, having a gir- 
dle round his loins,” and in his hand a reed cross, 
round which is bound a scroll with the words “ Eece 
Agnus Dei” (“ Behold the Lamb of God”), while 
with his finger he points up to the enthroned group 
above him, expressing the text from St. Luke (ce. 
ii.), “And thou, CurLp, shalt be called the 
Prophet of the Highest,” as in Francia’s picture in 
our National Gallery. Sometimes he bears a lamb 
in his arms, the Ecce Agnus Dei in form instead 
of words. . 
The introduction of the young St. John becomes 
more and more usual from the beginning of the 
sixteenth century. In later pictures, a touch of the 
iramatic is thrown into the arrangement: instead 
of being at the foot of the throne, he is placed 
beside it; as where the Virgin is throned on 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. 183 


lofty pedestal, and she lays one hand on the head 
of the little St. John, while with the other she 
strains her Child to her bosom; or where the infant 
Christ and St. John, standing at her knee, embrace 
each other —a graceful incident in a Holy Fam- 
ily, but in the enthroned Madonna it impairs the 
religious conception; it places St. John too much 
on a level with the Saviour, who is here in that 
divine character to which St. John bore witness, 
but which he did not share. It is very unusual to 
see John the Baptist in his childish character glori- 
fied in heaven among the celestial beings: I re- 
member but one instance, in a beautiful picture by 
Bonifazio. (Acad. Venice.) The Virgin is seated 
in glory, with her Infant on her knee, and encircled 
by cherubim; on one side an angel approaches 
with a basket of flowers on his head, and she is in 
act to take these flowers and scatter them on the 
saints below,—a new and graceful motif: on the 
other side sits John the Baptist as a boy about 
twelve years of age. The attendant saints below 
are St. Peter, St. Andrew, St. Thomas holding the 
girdle,* St. Francis, and St. Clara, all looking up 
with ecstatic devotion, except St. Clara, who looks 
down with a charming modesty. 


In early pictures, St. ANNA, the mother of the 
Virgin, is very seldom introauced, because in such 
sublime and mystical representations of the Vergine 


* St. Thomas is called in the catalogue, James, king of Ar 
tagon. 


184 IL.EGENDS OF THE MALDIONNA. 


Dea, whatever connected her with realities, or with 
her earthly genealogy, is suppressed. But from the 
middle of the fifteenth century, St. Anna became, 
from the current legends of the history of the Vir- 
gin, an important saint, and when introduced into 
the devotional groups, which, however, is seldom, it 
seems to have embarrassed the painters how to dis 
pose of her. She could not well be placed below 
her daughter; she could not be placed above her. 
It is a curious proof of the predominance of the 
feminine element throughout these representations, 
that while Sr. Joacuim the father and Sr. Jo- 
sEPH the husband of the Virgin, are either omitted 
altogether, or are admitted only in a subordinate 
and inferior position, St. Anna, when she does 


appear, is on an equality with her daughter. 


There is a beautiful example, and apt for illustra- 
tion, in the picture by Francia, in our National 
Gallery, where St. Anna and the Virgin are seated 
together on the same throne, and the former pre- 
sents the apple to her divine Grandson. I remem- 
ber, too, a most graceful instance where St. Anna 
stands behind and a little above the throne, with 
her hands placed affectionately on the shoulders of 
the Virgin, and raises her eyes to heaven as if in 
thanksgiving to God, who through her had brought 
salvation into the world. Where the Virgin 1s 
seated on the knees of St. Anna, it is a still later 
innovation. There is such a group in a picture in 
the Louvre, after a famous cartoon by Leonardo da 
Vinci, which, in spite of its celebrity, has always 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. 185 


appeared to me very fantastic and irreverent in 
treatment. There is also a fine print by Carraglio, 
in which the Virgin and Child are sustained on the 
knees of St. Anna: under her feet lies the dragon. 
St. Roch and St. Sebastian on each side, and the 
dead dragon, show that this is a votive subject, an 
expression of thanksgiving after the cessation of 
a plague. The Germans, who were fond of this 
group, imparted, even to the most religious treate 
ment, a domestic sentiment. 

The earliest instance I can point to of the en- 
throned Virgin attended by both her parents, is by 
Vivarini (Acad. Venice): St. Anna is on the right 
of the throne; St. Joachim, in the act of reverently 
removing his cap, stands on the left; more in front 
is a group of Franciscan saints. 

The introduction of St. Anna into a Holy Fam- 
ily, as part of the domestic group, is very appro- 
priate and graceful ; but this of course admits, and 
indeed requires, a wholly different sentiment. The 
same remark applies to St. Joseph, who, in the 
carlier representations of the enthroned Virgin, is 
carefully excluded; he appears, I think, first in 
the Venetian pictures. There is an example ina 
splendid composition by Paul Veronese. (Acad. 
Venice.) The Virgin, on a lofty throne, holds the 
Child; both ‘ook down on the worshippers; St 
Joseph is partly seen behind leaning on his crutch. 
Round the throne stand St. John the Baptist, St. 
Justina, as patroness of Venice, and St. George 
St. Jerome is on the other side in deep meditation 


136 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


A magnificent picture, quite sumptuous in colour 
and arrangement, and yet so solemn and so calm! * 

The composition by Michael Angelo, styled a 
“ Holy Family,” is, though singular in treatment, 
certainly devotional in character, and an enthroned 
Virgin. She is seated in the centre, on a raised 
architectural seat, holding a book ; the infant Christ 
slumbers, — books can teach him nothing, and to 
make him reading is unorthodox. In the back- 
ground on one side, St. Joseph leans over a balus- 
trade, as if in devout contemplation; a young St. 
Jotn the Baptist leans on the other side. The 
grand, mannered, symmetrical treatment is very 
remarkable and characteristic. There are many 
engravings of this celebrated composition. In one 
of them, the book held by the Virgin bears on one 
side the text in Latin, “ Blessed art thou among 
women, and blessed is (“e fruit of thy womb.” On 
the opposite page, “ Blessed he God, who has re- 
garded the low esta’e of his hand-maiden. For, 
behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me 
blessed.” 

While the young St. John is admitted into such 
close companionship with the enthroned Madonna, 
his mother Elizabeth, so commonly and beautifully 
introduced into the Holy Families, is almost uni- 
formly excluded. 


* There is another example by Paul Veronese, similar ix 
sharacter and treatment, in which St. John and St. Joseph are 
on the throne with the Virgin and Child, and St. Catherine and 
St. Antony below. 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. 187 


Next in order, as accessory figures, appear some 
pne or two or more of the martyrs, confessors, and - 
virgin patronesses, with their respective attributes, 
either placed in separate niches and compartments 
on each side, or, when admitted within the sacred 
precincts where sits the Queenly Virgin Mother 
and her divine Son, standing, in the manner of 
councillors and officers of state on solemn occa- 
sions, round an earthly sovereign, all reverently 
calm and still; till gradually this solemn formality, 
this isolation of the principal characters, gave way 
to some sentiment which placed them in nearer 
relation to each other, and to the divine person- 
ages. Occasional variations of attitude and action 
were introduced — at first, a rare innovation; ere 
long, a custom, a fashion. For instance ;— the 
doctors turn over the leaves of their great books as 
if seeking for the written testimonies to the truth of 
the mysterious Incarnatiun made visible in the per- 
sons of the Mother and Unhild; the confessors con- 
template the radiant group with rapture, and seem 
ready to burst forth in hymns of praise; the mar- 
tyrs kneel in adoration; the virgins gracefully 
offer their victorious palms: and thus the painters 
of the best periods of art contrived to animate their 
sacred groups without rendering them too dramatic 
and too secular. 

Such, then, was the general arrangement of that 
religious subject which is technically styled “ The 
Madonna enthroned and attended by Saints.” The 
selection and the relative position of these angelic 


188 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


nnd saintly accessories were not, as I have already 
observed, matters of mere taste or caprice ; and an 
attentive observation of the choice and disposition 
of the attendant figures will often throw light on 
the original significance of such pictures, and the 
circumstances under which they were painted. 

Shall I attempt a rapid classification and inter- 
pretation of these infinitely varied groups? It is 
a theme which might well occupy volumes rather 
than pages, and which requires far more antiqua- 
rian learning and historical research than I can pre- 
tend to; still by giving the result of my own obser- 
vations in some few instances, it may be possible so 
to excite the attention and fancy of the reader, as 
to lead him further on the same path than I have 
myself been able to venture. 


We can trace, in a large class of these pictures, 
a general religious significance, common to all pe- 
riods, all localities, all circumstances; while in 
another class, the interest is not only particular 
and local, but sometimes even personal. 

To the first class belongs the antique and beau- 
tiful group of the Virgin and Child, enthroned be- 
tween the two great archangels, St. Michael and 
St. Gabriel. It is probably the most ancient of 
these combinations: we find it in the earliest 
Greek art, in the carved ivory diptychs of the 
eighth and ninth centuries, in the old Greco-Italian 
pictures, in the ecclesiastical sculpture and stained 
glass of from the twelfth to the fifteenth century 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. 189 


In the most ancient examples, the two angels are 
seen standing on each side of the Madonna, not 
worshipping, but with their sceptres and attributes, 
as princes of the heavenly host, attending on her 
who is queen of angels; St. Gabriel as the angel 
of birth and life, St. Michael as the angel of Death, 
that is, in the Christian sense, of deliverance and 
immortality. There is an instance of this antique 
treatment in a small Greek picture in the Waller- 
stein collection. (Now at Kensington Palace.) 

In later pictures, St. Gabriel seldom appears ex- 
cept as the Angelo Annunziatore ; but St. Michael 
very frequently. Sometimes, as conqueror over sin 
and representative of the Church militant, he stands 
with his foot on the dragon with a triumphant air; 
or, kneeling, he presents to the infant Christ the 
scales of eternal justice, as in a famous picture by 
Leonardo da Vinci. It is not only because of his 
popularity as a patron saint, and of the number of 
churches dedicated to him, that he is so frequently 
introduced into the Madonna pictures; according 
to the legend, he was by Divine appointment the 
guardian of the Virgin and her Son while they 
sojourned on earth. The angel Raphael leading 
Tobias always expresses protection, and especially 
protection to the young. Tobias with his fish was 
an early type of baptism. There are many beau- 
tiful examples. In Raphael’s “Madonna dell’ 
Pesce” (Madrid Gal.) he is introduced as the 
patron saint of the painter, but not without a ref: 
erence to more sacred meaning, that of the guar. 


13 


190 yr. oGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


dian spirit of all humanity. The warlike figure of 
St Michael, and the benign St. Raphael, are thus 
represented as celestial guardians in the beautiful 
picture by Perugino now in our National Gallery. 
(No. 288.) 

There are instances of the three archangels all 
standing together below the glorified Virgm: St. 
Michael in the centre with his foot on the prostrate 
fiend; St. Gabriel on the right presents his lily ; 
and, on the left, the protecting angel presents his 
human charge, and points up to the source of sal- 
vation. (In an engraving after Giulio Romano.) 


The Virgin between St. Peter and St. Paul is 
also an extremely ancient and significant group. 
It appears in the old mosaics. As chiefs of the 
apostles and joint founders of the Church, St. 
Peter and St. Paul are prominent figures in many 
eroups and combinations, particularly in the altar- 
pieces of the Roman churches, and those painted 
for the Benedictine communities. 

The Virgin, when supported on each side by St. 
Peter and St. Paul, must be understood to repre- 
sent the personified Church between her two great 
founders and defenders; and this relation is exe 
pressed in a very poetical manner, when St. Peter, 
kneeling, receives the allegorical keys from the 
hand of the infant Saviour. There are some curi- 
ous and beautiful instazices of this combination of a 
significant action with the utmost solemnity of treat- 
ment; ior example, in that very extraordinary Fran 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. 191 


ziscan altar-piece, by Carlo Crivelli, lately purchased 
by Lord Ward, where St. Peter, having deposited 
his papal tiara at the foot of the throne, kneeling 
receives the great symbolical keys. And again, 
in a fine picture by Andrea Meldula, where the 
Virgin and Child are enthroned, and the infant 
Christ delivers the keys to Peter, who stands, but 
with a most reverential air; on the other side of 
the throne is St. Paul with his book and the sword 
neld upright. There are also two attendant angels. 
On the border of the mantle of the Virgin is in- 
scribed “* Ave Maria gratia plena.” * 

I do not recollect any instance in which the four 
evangelists as such, or the twelve apostles in their 
collective character, wait round the throne of the 
Virgin and Child, though one or more of the evan- 
gelists and one or more of the apostles perpetually 
occur. 

The Virgin between St. John the Baptist and 
St. John the Evangelist, is also a very significant 
and beautiful combination, and one very frequently 
met with. ‘Though both these saints were as chil- 
dren contemporary with the child Christ, and so 
represented in the Holy Families, in these solemn 
ideal groups they are always men. The first St 
John expresses regeneration by the rite of baptism 


* In the collection of Mr. Bromley, of Wootton. This pic- 
ture is otherwise remarkable as the only authenticated work of 
very rare painter. It bears his signature, and the style 
Indicates the end of the fifteenth century as the probable 
‘fate, 


192 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


the second St. John, distinguished as Theologus, 
«the Divine,” stands with his sacramental cup, ex- 
pressing regeneration by faith. The former was 
the precursor of the Saviour, the first who pro- 
claimed him to the world as such; the latter beheld 
the vision in Patmos, of the Woman in travail pur- 
sued by the dragon, which is interpreted in refer- 
ence to the Virgin and her Child. The group thus 
brought into relation is full of meaning, and, from 
the variety and contrast of character, full of poetical 
and artistic capabilities. St. John the Baptist is 
usually a man about thirty, with wild shaggy hair 
and meagre form, so draped that his vest of camel’s 
hair is always visible ; he holds his reed cross. St. 
John the Evangelist is generally the young and 
graceful disciple ; but in some instances he is the 
venerable seer of Patmos, 


‘“‘ Whose beard descending sweeps his aged breast.’ 


There is an example in one of the finest pictures 
by Perugino. The Virgin is throned above, and 
surrounded by a glory of seraphim, with many- 
coloured wings. The Child stands on her knee. 
In the landscape below are St. Michael, St. Cathe- 
rine, St. Apollonia, and St. John the Evangelist as 
the aged prophet with white flowing beard. (Bo- 
loona Acad.) 


The Fathers of the Church, as interpreters ana 
defenders of the mystery of the Incarnation, are 
very significantly placed near the throne of the 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. 193 


Virgin. and Child. In Western art, the Latin dce- 
tors, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and - 
St. Gregory, have of course the preéminence. (v 
Sacred and Legend. Art.) 

The effect produced by these aged, venerable, 
bearded dignitaries, with their gorgeous robes and 
mitres and flowing beards, in contrast with the soft 
simplicity of the divine Mother and her Infant, is, 
in the hands of really great artists, wonderfully fine. 
There is a splendid example, by Vivarini (Venice 
Acad.) ; the old doctors stand two on each side of 
the throne, where, under a canopy upborne by an- 
gels, sits the Virgin, sumptuously crowned and at- 
tired, and looking most serene and goddess-like ; 
while the divine Child, standing on her knee, extends 
his little hand in the act of benediction. Of this 
picture I have already given a very detailed descrip- 
tion. (Sacred and Legend. Art.) Another exam- 
ple, a grand picture by Moretto, now in the Museum 
at Frankfort, I have also described. There is here 
a touch of the dramatic sentiment ;— the Virgin is 
tenderly caressing her Child, while two of the old 
doctors, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, stand rev- 
erently on each side of her lofty throne ; St. Gree- 
pry sits on the step below, reading, and St. Jerome 
bends over and points to a page in his book. The 
Virgin is not sufficiently dignified; she has too 
much the air of a portrait; and the action of the 
Child is, also, though tender, rather unsuited to the 
significance of the rest of the group; but the pic- 
ture is, on the whole, magnificent. There is anoth- 


194 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


er fine example of the four doctors attending on the 
Virgin, in the Milan Gallery.* 

Sometimes not four, but two only of these Fa 
thers, appear in combination with other figures, and 
the choice would depend on the locality and other 
circumstances. But, on the whole, we rarely find a 
group of personages assembled round the throne of 
the Virgin which does not include one or more of 
these venerable pillars of the Church. St. Am- 
brose appears most frequently in the Milanese pic- 
tures: St. Augustine and St. Jerome, as patriarchs 
of monastic orders, are very popular: St. Gregory, 
I think, is more seldom met with than the others. 


The Virgin, with St. Jerome and St. Catherine, 
the patron saints of theological learning, is a fre~ 
quent group in all monasteries, but particularly in 
the churches and houses of the Jeronimites. A 
beautiful example is the Madonna, by Francia. 
(Borghese Palace, Rome.) St. Jerome, with Mary 
Magdalene, also a frequent combination, expresses 
‘heological learning in union with religious peni- 
tence and humility. Correggio’s famous picture is 
an example, where St. Jerome on one side presents 
his works in defence of the Church, and his trans 
lation of the Scriptures; while, on the other, Mary 
Magdalene, bending down devoutly, kisses the feet 
of the infant Christ. (Parma.) 

Of all the attendants on the Virgin and Child. 


* In a votive picture of the Milanese School, dedicated by Lu 
tovico Sforza Il Moro. 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. 193 


the most popular is, perhaps, St. Catherine; and 
the “ Marriage of St. Catherine,” as a religious 
mystery, is made to combine with the most solemn 
and formal arrangement of the other attendant fig- 
ures. The enthroned Virgin presides over the 
mystical rite. This was, for intelligible reasons, a 
favourite subject in nunneries.* 

In a picture by Garofalo, the Child, bending 
frem his mother’s knee, places a golden crown on 
the head of St. Catherine as Sposa; on each side 
stand St. Agnes and St. Jerome. 

In a picture by Carlo Maratti, the nuptials take 
place in heaven, the Virgin and Child being 
throned in clouds. 

If the kneeling Sposa be St. Catherine of Siena, 
the nun, and not St. Catherine of Alexandria, or if 
the two are introduced, then we may be sure that 
the picture was painted for a nunnery of the Do- 
minican order.t 

The great Madonna in Trono by the Dominican 
Fra Bartolomeo, wherein the queenly St. Cathe- 
tine of Alexandria witnesses the mystical marriage 
of her sister saint, the nun of Siena, will occur to 
every one who has been at Florence ; and there is 
a smaller picture by the same painter in the 
Louvre ;— a different version of the same subject. 


* For a detailed account of the legendary marriage of St. Cath- 
srine and examples of treatment, see Sacred and Legendary Art. 

+ See Legends of the Monastic Jrders. A fine example of this 
group ‘ the Spozulizio of St. Catherine of Siena,” has lately been 
3dded te our National Gallery; (Lorenzo di San Severino, No 
49 ) 


196 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


I must content myself with merely referring te 
these well-known pictures which have been often 
engraved, and dwell more in detail on another, not 
s0 well known, and, to my feeling, as preéminently 
beautiful and poetical, but in the early Flemish, not 
the Italian style —a poem in a language less smooth 
and sonorous, but still a poem. 

This is the altar-piece painted by Hemmelinck 
for the charitable sisterhood of St. John’s Hospital 
at Bruges. The Virgin is seated under a porch, 
and her throne decorated with rich tapestry; two 
graceful angels hold a crown over her head. On 
the right, St. Catherine, superbly arrayed as a 
princess, kneels at her side, and the beautiful in- 
fant Christ bends forward and places the bridal 
ring on her finger. Behind her a charming angel, 
playing on the organ, celebrates the espousals with 
hymns of joy ; beyond him stands St. John the Bap- 
tist with his lamb. On the left of the Virgin 
kneels St. Barbara, reading intently; behind her 
an angel with a book; beyond him stands St. 
John the Evangelist, youthful, mild, and pensive. 
Through the arcades of the porch is seen a land- 
scape background, with incidents picturesquely 
treated from the lives of the Baptist and the Evan- 
gelist. Such is the central composition. The two 
wings zepresent—on one side, the beheading of 
St. John the Baptist; on the other, St. John tha 
Evangelist, in Patmos, and the vision of the Apoe- 
alypse. In this great work there is a unity and 
harmony of design which blends the whole into ay 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. 197 


mupressive poem. The object was to do honour ta 
the patrons of the hospital, the two St. Johns, and, - 
at the same time, to express the piety of the Charis 
table Sisters, who, like St. Catherine (the type of 
contemplative studious piety), were consecrated 
and espoused to Christ, and, like St. Barbara (the 
type of active piety), were dedicated to good works. 
It is a tradition, that Hemmelinck painted this al 
tar-piece as a votive offering in gratitude to the 
good Sisters, who had taken him in and nursed him 
when dangerously wounded : and surely if this tra- 
dition be true, never was charity more magnificent- 
ly recompensed. 

In a very beautiful picture by Ambrogio Borgo- 
gnone (Dresden, collection of M. Grahl) the Vir- 
gin is seated on a splendid throne; on the right 
kneels St. Catherine of Alexandria, on the left St. 
Catherine of Siena: the Virgin holds a hand of 
each, which she presents to the divine Child 
seated on her knee, and to each he presents a 
ring. 


The Virgin and Child between St. Catherine 
and St. Barbara is one of the most popular, as well 
as one of the most beautiful and expressive, of 
these combinations ; signifying active and contem- 
plative life, or the two powers between which the 
social state was divided in the middle ages, namely, 
the ecclesiastical and the military, learning and 
arms (Sacred and Legend. Art); St. Catherine 
veing the patron of the first, and St. Barbara of 


198 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


the last. When the original significance had 
ceased to be understood or appreciated, the group 
continued to be a favourite one, particularly in 
Germany ; and examples are infinite. 

The Virgin between St. Mary Magdalene and 
St. Barbara, the former as the type of penance, hu- 
mility, and meditative piety, the latter as the type 
of fortitude and courage, is also very common. 
When between St. Mary Magdalene and St. Cath- 
erine, the idea suggested is learning, with penitence 
and humility ; this is a most popular group. So is 
St. Lucia with one of these or both: St. Lucia with 
her /amp or her eyes, is always expressive of light, 
the light of divine wisdom. 


The Virgin between St. Nicholas and St. George 
is a very expressive group ; the former as the pa- 
tron saint of merchants, tradesmen, and seamen, the 
popular saint of the bourgeoisie ; the latter as the 
patron of soldiers, the chosen saint of the aristocra- 
cy. These two saints with St. Catherine are pre- 
eminent in the Venetian pictures; for all three, in 
addition to their poetical significance, were vener- 
ated as especial protectors of Venice. 


St. George and St. Christopher both stand by 
the throne of the Virgin of Succour as protectors 
and deliverers in danger. The attribute of St 
Christopher is the little Christ on his shoulder; and 
there are instances in which Christ appears on the 
ap of his mother, and also on the shoulder of the 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. i99 


attendant St. Christopher. This blunder, if it may 
be so called, has been avoided, very cleverly I 
should think in his own opinion, by a painter whe 
makes St. Christopher kneel, while the Virgin 
places the little Christ on his shoulders; a conceito 
quite inadmissible in a really religious group. 


In pictures dedicated by charitable communities, 
we often find St. Nicholas and St. Leonard as the 
patron saints of prisoners and captives. Where- 
ever St. Leonard appears he expresses deliverance 
from captivity. St. Omobuono, St. Martin, St. Eliz. 
abeth of Hungary, St. Roch, or other beneficent 
saints, waiting round the Virgin with kneeling beg- 
gars, or the blind, the lame, the sick, at their feet, 
always expressed the Virgin as the mother of mercy, 
the Consolatrix afjlictorum. Such pictures were 
commonly found in hospitals, and the chapels and 
churches of the Order of Mercy, and other charitable 
institutions. The examples are numerous. I remem- 
ber one, a striking picture, by Bartolomeo Montagna, 
where the Virgin and Child are enthroned in the 
centre as usual. On her right the good St. Omo- 
buono, dressed as a burgher, in a red gown and fur 
cap, gives alms to a poor beggar; on the left, St. 
Francis presents a celebrated friar of his Order, 
Bernardino da Feltri, the first founder of a mont-de- 
piété, who kneels, holding the emblem of his institu- 
tion, a little green mountain with a cross at the top. 


Besides these saints, who have a general religious 


200 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


sharacter and significance, we have the national 
and local saints, whose presence very often marks 
the country or school of art which produced the 
picture. 

A genuine Florentine Madonna is distinguished 
by a certain elegance and stateliness, and well be 
comes her throne. As patroness of Florence, in 
her own right, the Virgin bears the title of Santa 
Maria del Fiore, and in this character she holds a 
flower, generally a rose, or is in the act of present- 
ing it to the Child. She is often attended by St. 
John the Baptist, as patron of Florence; but he is 
everywhere a saint of such power and importance 
as an attendant on the divine personages, that his 
appearance in a picture does not stamp it as 
Florentine. St. Cosmo and St. Damian are Flor- 
entine, as the protectors of the Medici family; but 
as patrons of the healing art, they have a signifi- 
cance which renders them common in the Vene- 
tian and other pictures. It may, however, be de- 
termined, that if St. John the Baptist, St. Cosmo 
and St. Damian, with St. Laurence (the patron 
of Lorenzo the Magnificent), appear together in 
attendance on the Virgin, that picture is of the 
Florentine school. The presence of St. Zenobio, 
or of St. Antonino, the patron-archbishops of Flor- 
ence, will set the matter at rest, for these are 
exclusively Florentine. In a picture by Giotto, 
angels attend on the Virgin bearing vases of lilies 
m their hands. (Lilies are at once the emblem of 
the Virgin and the device of Florence.) On 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. 201 


each side kneel St. John the Baptist and St. Ze 
nobio.* 

A Siena Madonna would naturally be attended 
by St. Bernardino and St. Catherine of Siena; if 
they seldom appear together, it is because they be- 
long to different religious orders. 

In the Venetian pictures we find a crowd of 
guardian saints; first among them, St. Mark, then 
St. Catherine, St. George, St. Nicholas, and St. 
Justina: wherever these appear together, that pic- 
ture is surely from the Venetian school. 

All through Lombardy and Piedmont, St. Am- 
brose of Milan and St. Maurice of Savoy are 
favourite attendants on the Virgin. 


In Spanish and Flemish art, the usual attendants 
on the queenly Madonna are monks and nung, 
which brings us to the consideration of a large and 
interesting class of pictures, those dedicated by the 
various religious orders. When we remember 
that the institution of some of the most influential 
of these communities was coeval with the revi- 
val of art; that for three or four centuries, art in 
all its forms had no more powerful or more munifi- 
sent patrons; that they counted among their various 
brotherhoods some of the greatest artists the world 
has seen; we can easily imagine how the beatified 
members of these orders have become so conspicu- 


* We now possess in our National Gallery a very interesting 
example of a Florentine enthroned Madonna, attended by 8t 
whn the Baptist and St. Zenobio as patrons of Florence. 


202 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


pus as attendants on the celestial personages. ‘Ie 
those who are accustomed to read the significance 
of a work of art, a single glance is often sufficient 
to decide for what order it has been executed. 

St. Paul is a favourite saint of the Benedictine 
communities; and there are few great pictures 
painted for them in which he does not appear. 
When in companionship with St. Benedict, either 
in the original black habit or the white habit of 
the reformed orders, with St. Scholastica bearing 
her dove, with St. Bernard, St. Romualdo, or other 
worthies of this venerable community, the inter- 
pretation is easy. 

Here are some examples by Domenico Puligo 
The Virgin not seated, but standing on a lofty ped- 
estal, looks down on her worshippers; the Child in 
her arms extends the right hand in benediction; 
with his left he points to himself, “Iam the Resur- 
rection and the Life”’ Around are six saints, St 
Peter, St. Paul, St. John the Baptist as protector 
of Florence, St. Matthew, St. Catherine; and St. 
Bernard, in his ample white habit, with his keen in- 
tellectual face, is about to write in a’ great book, 
and looking up to the Virgin for inspiration. ‘The 
picture was originally painted for the Cistercians.* 

The Virgin and Child enthroned between St. 
Augustine and his mother St. Monica, as in a 
fine picture by Florigerio (Venice Acad.), would 
show the picture to be painted for one of the nu 


* It is now in the S Maria-Maddalena de’ Pazzi at Florence 
Engraved in the *‘ Etruria Pittrice,”” xxxv. 


THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. 2083 


merous branches of the Augustine Order. St. An- 
tony the abbot is a favourite saint in pictures painted 
for the Augustine hermits. 

In the “ Madonna del Baldachino” of Raphael, 
the beardless saint who stands in a white habit on 
one side of the throne is usually styled St. Bruno; an 
evident mistake. It is not a Carthusian, but a Cister- 
cian monk, and I think St. Bernard, the general pa- 
‘tron of monastic learning. The other attendant 
saints are St. Peter, St. James, and St. Augustine. 
The picture was originally painted for the church of 
San Spirito at Florence, belonging to the Augustines. 

But St. Augustine is also the patriarch of the 
Franciscans and Dominicans, and frequently takes 
an influential place in their pictures, as the com- 
panion either of St. Francis or of St. Dominick, as 
in a picture by Fra Angelico. (Florence Gal.) 

Among the votive Madonnas of the mendicant 
orders, I will mention a few conspicuous for beauty 
and interest, which will serve as a key tc others. 

1. The Virgin and Child enthroned between 
Antony of Padua and St. Clara of Assisi, as in 
a small elegant picture by Pellegrino, must have 
been dedicated in a church of the Franciscans. 
(Sutherland Gal.) 

2. The Virgin blesses St. Francis, who looks up 
adoring: behind him St. Antony of Padua; on the 
other side, John the Baptist as a man, and St. Cath- 
erine. <A celebrated but not an agreeaole picture, 
painted by Correggio for the Franvis¢an church at 
Parma. (Dresden Gal.) 


904 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


3. The Virgin is seated in glory; on one side 
St. Francis, on the other St. Antony of Padua, 
both placed in heaven, and almost on an equality 
with the celestial personages. Around are seven 
female figures, representing the seven cardinal vir- 
tues, bearing their respective attributes. Below 
are seen the worthies of the Franciscan Order; 
to the right of the Virgin, St. Elizabeth of Hun- 
gary, St. Louis of France, St. Bonaventura; to the 
left, St. Ives of Bretagne, St. Eleazar, and St. 
Louis of Toulouse.* Painted for the Franciscans 
by Morone and Paolo Cavazzolo of Verona. This 
is a picture of wonderful beauty, and quite poeti- 
cal in the sentiment and arrangement, and the 
mingling of the celestial, the allegorical, and the 
real personages, with a certain solemnity and grace- 
fulness quite indescribable. The virtues, for in- 
stance, are not so much allegorical persons as 
spiritual appearances, and the whole of the upper 
part of the picture is like a vision. 

4. The Virgin, standing on the tree of life, holds 
the Infant: rays of glory proceed from them on 
every side. St. Francis, kneeling at the foot of the 
tree, looks up in an ecstasy of devotion, while a 
snake with a wounded and bleeding head is crawl- 
ing away. ‘This strange picture, painted for the 
Franciscans, by Carducho, about 1625, is a repre- 
sentation of an abstract dogma (redemption from 
original sin), in the most real, most animated form 


* For these Franciscan saints, v. Legends of the Monastie 
Srders. 


THE VIRGIN ANI) CHILD. 208 


—afl over life, earthly breathing hfe —and made 
me start back: in the mingling of mysticism and 
materialism, it is quite Spanish.* 

% The Virgin and Child enthroned. On the right 
of the Virgin, St. John the Baptist and St. Zeno- 
vio, the two protectors of Florence. The latter 
wears his episcopal cope richly embroidered with 
ficures. On the left stand St. Peter and St. Domi- 
nick, protectors of the company for whom the pic- 
ture was painted. In front kneel St. Jerome and 
St. Francis. This picture was originally placed in 
San Marco, a church belonging to the Domini- 
cans. 

6. When the Virgin or the Child holds the Rosa- 
ry, it is then a Madonna del Rosario, and painted 
for the Dominicans. The Madonna by Murillo, in 
the Dulwich Gallery, is an example. There is an 
instance in which the Madonna and Child enthroned 
are distributing rosaries to the worshippers, and at- 
tended by St. Dominick and St. Peter Martyr, the 


*Esterhazy Gal., Vienna. Mr. Stirling tells us that the Fran- 
ciscan friars of Valladolid possessed two pictures of the Virgin by 
Mateo de Cerezo ‘‘ in one of which she was represented sitting in 
a cherry-tree and adored by St. Francis. This unusual throne 
may perhaps have been introduced by Cerezo as a symbol of his 
own devout feelings, his patronymic being the Castilian word for 
cherry-tree.”’ — Stirling’s Artists of Spain, p. 1033. There are, 
however, many prints and pictures of the Virgin and Child seat- 
edinatree. It was one of the fantastic conceptions of an un- 
healthy period of religion and art 

+I saw and admired this fine and valuable picture in he Ri- 
nuccini Palace at Florence in 1847; it was purchased for cur Nw 
tional Gallery in 1855. 


14 


206 LEGENDS OF THK MADONNA. 


two great saints of the Order. (Caravaggi Belvex 
dere Gal., Vienna.) 


7. Very important in pictures is the Madonna aa 
more particularly the patroness of the Carmelites, 
under her well-known title of “ Our Lady of Mount 
Carmel,” or La Madonna del Carmine. The meme 
bers of this Order received from Pope Honorius 
III. the privilege of styling themselves the “ Fam- 
ily of the Blessed Virgin,” and their churches are 
all dedicated to her under the title of S. Maria del 
Carmine. She is generally represented holding 
the infant Christ, with her robe outspread, and be- 
neath its folds the Carmelite brethren and their 
chief saints.»* There is an example in a picture by 
Pordenone which once belonged to Canova. (Acad. 
Venice.) The Madonna del Carmine is also por- 
trayed as distributing to her votaries small tablets 
on which is a picture of herself. 

8. The Virgin, as patroness of the Order of Mer- 
cy, also distributes tablets, but they bear the badge 
of the Order, and this distinguishes “ Our Lady of 
Mercy,” so popular in Spanish art, from “ Our 
Lady of Mount Carmel.” (v. Monastic Or 
ders.) 

A large class of these Madonna pictures are vo- 
tive offerings for public or private mercies. They 
present some most interesting varieties of character 
and arrangement. 

A votive Mater Misericordige, with the Child in 

* vy. Legends of the Monastic Orders, ‘‘The (armelites.”’ 


PUBLIC VOTIVE MADONNAS. 207 


her arms, is often standing with her wide ample 
robe extended, and held up on each side by angels. 
Kneeling at her feet are the votaries who have con- 
secrated the picture, generally some community or 
- brotherhood instituted for charitable purposes, who, 
as they kneel, present the objects of their charity — 
widows, orphans, prisoners, or the sick and infirm. 
The Child, in her arms, bends forward with the 
hand raised in benediction. I have already spoken 
of the Mater Misericordize without the Child. The 
sentiment is yet more beautiful and complete where 
the Mother of Mercy holds the infant Redeemer, 
the representative and pledge of God’s infinite mer- 
zy, in her arms. 

There is a“ Virgin of Mercy,” by Salvator Rosa, 
which is singular and rather poetical in the concep- 
tion. She is seated in heavenly glory; the infant 
Christ, on her knee, bends benignly forward. Tu- 
telary angels are represented as pleading for mer- 
cy, with eager outstretched arms; other angels, 
lower down, are liberating the souls of repentant 
sinners from torment. The expression in some of 
the heads, the contrast between the angelic pitying 
ppirits and the anxious haggard features of the 
“ Anime del Purgatorio” are very fine and ani 
mated. Here ¢he Virgin is the “ Refuge of Sin- 
ners,” Refugium Peccatorum. Such pictures are 
commonly met with in chapels dedicated to ser- 
vices for the dead. 


Another class of votive pirtnres are especial acts 


808 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


of thanksgiving : — 1st. For victory, as La Madon 
na della Vittoria, Notre Dame des Victoires. Tha 
Virgin, on her throne, is then attended by one or 
more of the warrior saints, together with the pa- 
tron or patroness of the victors. She is then our - 
Lady of Victory. A very perfect example of these 
victorious Madonnas exists in a celebrated picture 
by Andrea Mantegna. The Virgin is seated on a 
lofty throne, embowered by garlands of fruit, 
leaves, and flowers, and branches of coral, fanci- 
fully disposed as a sort of canopy over her head. 
The Child stands on her knee, and raises his hand 
in the act of benediction. On the right of the Vir- 
gin appear the warlike saints, St. Michael and St. 
Maurice; they recommend to her protection the 
Marquis of Mantua, Giovan Francesco Gonzaga 
who kneels in complete armour.* On the left 
stand St. Andrew and St. Longinus, the guardian 
saints of Mantua; on the step of the throne, the 
young St. John the Baptist, patron of the Marquis; 
and more in front, a female figure, seen half-length, 
which some have supposed to be St. Elizabeth, the 
mother of the Baptist, and others, with more rea- 
son, the wife of the Marquis, the accomplished Isa- 
bella d’Este.t This picture was dedicated in ele- 
bration of the victory gained by Gonzaga ove: the 

*“ Qui rend graces du prétendw succés obtenu sur Charles 
VIII. 4 la bataille de Fornone,” as the French catalogue ex 
presses it. ‘ 

$ Both, however, may be right; for St. Elizabeth was the pa 


‘ron saint of the Marchesana: the head has quite the air of 
portrait, and may be Isabella in likeness of a saint. 


PUBLIC VOTIVE MADONNAS. 908 


French, near Fornone, in 1495.* There is some 
thing exceedingly grand, and, at the same time, 
exceedingly fantastic and poetical, in the whole ar- 
rangement; and besides its beauty and historica] 
importance, it is the most important work of An- 
drea Mantegna. Gonzaga, who is the hero of the 
picture, was a poet as well as a soldier. Isabella 
d’Este shines conspicuously, both for virtue and 
talent, in the history of the revival of art during 
the fifteenth century. She was one of the first who 
collected gems, antiques, pictures, and made them 
available for the study and improvement of the 
learned. Altogether, the picture is most interest- 
ing in every point of view. It was carried off by 
the French from Milan in 1797; and considering 
the occasion on which it was painted, they must 
have had a special pleasure in placing it in their 
Louvre, where it still remains. 

There is a very curious and much more ancient 
Madonna of this class preserved at Siena, and styled 
the “ Madonna del Voto.” The Sienese being at 
war with Florence, placed their city under the pro- 
tection of the Virgin, and made a solemn vow that, 
if victorious, they would make over their whole ter- 
ritory to her as a perpetual possession, and hold it 
from her as her loyal vassals. After the victory of 
Arbia, which placed Florence itself for a time in 


* “Si les soldats avaient mieux secondé la bravoure de leur 
thef, arm %e de Charles VIII. était perdue sans ressource — Ls 
se dispersérent pour piller et laissérent aux Francais fe temps Je 
eontinier leur route.” 


210 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


such imminent danger, a picture was dedicated by 
Siena to the Virgin della Vittoria. She is en: 
throned and crowned, and the infant Christ, stand: 
ing on her knee, holds in his hand the deed of gift. 


2dly. For deliverance from plague and pestis 
lence, those scourges of the middle ages. In such 
pictures the Virgin is generally attended by St. 
Sebastian, with St. Roch or St. George ; sometimes, 
also, by St. Cosmo and St. Damian, all of them 
protectors and healers in time of sickness and car 
lamity. These intercessors are often accompanied 
by the patrons of the church or locality. 

There is a remarkable picture of this class by 
Matteo di Giovanni (Siena Acad.), in which the 
Virgin and Child are throned between St. Sebas- 
tian and St. George, while St. Cosmo and St. 
Damian, dressed as physicians, and holding their 
palms, kneel before the throne. 

In a very famous picture by Titian (Rome, 
Vatican), the Virgin and Child are seated in 
heavenly glory. She has a smiling and gracious 
expression, and the Child holds a garland, while 
angels scatter flowers. Below stand St. Sebastian, 
St. Nicholas, St. Catherine, St. Peter, and St. 
Francis. The picture was an offering to the 
Virgin, after the cessation of a pestilence at Ven- 
ice, and consecrated in a church of the Fran 
viscans dedicated to St. Micholas * 


* San Nicolo de’ Frari, since destroyed, and the picture hag 
been transferred to the Vatican. 


PUBLIC VOTIVE MADONNAS. 911 


Another celebrated votive picture against pesti- 
ence is Correggio’s “‘ Madonna di San Sebastiano.”. 
(Dresden Gal.) She is seated in heavenly glory, 
with little angels, not so much adoring as sporting 
and hovering round her; below are St. Sebastian 
and St. Roch, the latter asleep. (There would be 
an impropriety in exhibiting St. Roch sleeping but 
for the reference to the legend, that, while he slept, 
an angel healed him, which Jends the circumstance 
a kind of poetical beauty.) St. Sebastian, bound, 
looks up on the other side. The introduction of 
St. Geminiano, the patron of Modena, shows the 
picture to have been painted for that city, which 
had been desolated by pestilence in 1512. The 
date of the picture is 1515. 

We may then take it for granted, that wherever 
the Virgin and Child appear attended by St. Se- 
bastian and St. Roch, the picture has been a 
votive offering against the plague; and there is 
something touching in the number of such me- 
morials which exist in the Italian churches. (v. 
Sacred and Legendary Art.) The brotherhoods 
instituted in most of the towns of Italy and Ger- 
many, for attending the sick and plague-stricken 
in times of public calamity, were placed under 
the protection of the Virgin of Mercy, St. Se- 
bastian, and St. Roch; and many of these pic- 
tures were dedicated by such communities, or by 
the municipal authorities of the city or locality. 
There is a memorable example in a picture by 
Guido, painte1, oy command of the Senate of Bo 


212 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


logna, after the cessation of the plague, which dese 
lated the city in 1630. (Acad. Bologna.) The 
benign Virgin, with her Child, is seated in the 
skies; the rainbow, symbol of peace and recon- 
tiliation, is under her feet. The infant Christ, 
lovely and gracious, raises his right hand in the 
act of blessing; in the other he holds a branch 
of olive: angels scatter flowers around. Below 
stand the guardian saints, the “ Santi Protettori” 
of Bologna;— St. Petronius, St. Francis, St. Domi- 
nick; the warrior-martyrs, St. Proculus and St 
Florian, in complete armour; with St. Ignatius 
and St. Francis Xavier. Below these is seen, as 
if through a dark cloud and diminished, the city of 
Bologna, where the dead are borne away in carts 
and on biers. The upper part of this famous pic- 
ture is most charming for the gracious beauty of 
the expression, the freshness and delicacy of the 
colour. ‘The lower part is less happy, though the 
head of St. Francis, which is the portrait of Guido’s 
intimate friend and executor, Saulo Guidotti, can 
hardly be exceeded for intense and life-like truth. 
The other figures are deficient in expression and 
the execution hurried, so that on the whole it is 
mferior to the votive Pieta already described. 
Guido, it is said, had no time to prepare a canvas 
or cartoons, and painted the whole on a piece of 
white silk. It was carried in grand procession, 
and solemnly dedicated by the Senate, whence w 
obtained the title by which it is celebrated in the 
history of art, “Il Pallione del Voto.” 


FAMILY VOTIVE MADONNAS. 213 


$dly Against inundations, flood, and fire, St 
George is the great protector. This saint and St. 
Barbara, who is patroness against thunder and 
tempest, express deliverance from such calami- 
ties, when in companionship. 

The “ Madonna di San Giorgio” of Correggio 
(Dresden Gal.) is a votive altar-piece dedicated on 
the occasion of a great inundation of the river 
Secchia. She is seated on her throne, and the 
Child looks down on the worshippers and votaries. 
St. George stands in front victorious, his foot on 
the head of the dragon. The introduction of St. 
Geminiano tells us that the picture was painted 
for the city of Modena; the presence of St. Johu 
the Baptist and St. Peter Martyr show that it was 
ledicated by the Dominicans, in their church of 
St. John. (See Legends of the Monastic Orders.) 


Not less interesting are those votive Madonnas 
dedicated by the piety of families and individuals. 
In the family altar-pieces, the votary is often pre- 
sented on one side by his patron saint, and his wife 
by her patron on the other. Not seldom a troop 
of hopeful sons attend the father, and a train of 
gentle, demure-looking daughters kneel behind the 
mother. Such memorials of domestic affection and 
grateful piety are often very charming; they are 
pieces of family biography :* we have celebrated 
examples both in German and Italian art. 


* Several are engraved, as illustrations, in Litta’s great His 
wry of the Italian Families 


214 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


1, ‘the “ Madonna della Famiglia Bentivoglio” 
was painted by Lorenzo Costa, for Giovanni IL, 
lord or tyrant of Bologna from 1462 to 1506. 
The history of this Giovanni is mixed up in an 
interesting manner with the revival of art and 
letters ; he was a great patron of both, and among 
the painters in his service were Francesco Francia 
and Lorenzo Costa. The latter painted for him 
his family chapel in the church of San Giacomo 
at Bologna; and, while the Bentivogli have long 
since been chased from their native territory, their 
family altar still remains untouched, unviolated. 
The Virgin, as usual, is seated on a lofty throne 
bearing her divine Child; she is veiled, no hair 
seen, and simply draped; she bends forward with 
mild benignity. To the right of the throne kneels 
Giovanni with his four sons; on the left his wife, 
attended by six daughters: all are portraits, ad- 
mirable studies for character and costume. Behind 
the daughters, the head of an old woman is just 
visible, — according to tradition the old nurse of 
the family. 

2. Another most interesting family Madonna is 
that of Ludovico Sforza il Moro, painted for the 
church of Sant’ Ambrogio at Milan.* The Virgin 
sits enthroned, richly dressed, with long fair hair 
hanging down, and no veil or ornament ; two angels 
hold a crown over her head. The Child lies ex- 
ended on her knee. Round her throne are the 


* By an unknown painter of the school of Lionardo, and now 
m the gallery of the Brera. 


FAMILY VOTIVE MADONNAS. 215 


four fathers, St. Ambrose, St. Gregory, St. Jerome, 
and St. Augustine. In front of the throne kneels 
wudovico il Moro, Duke of Milan, in a rich dress 
and unarmed; Ambrose, as protector of Milan, 
lays his hand upon his shoulder. At his side kneels 
a boy about five years old. Opposite to him is 
the duchess, Beatrice d’Este, also kneeling; and 
near her a little baby in swaddling clothes, hold- 
ing up its tiny hands in supplication, kneels on a 
cushion. The age of the children shows the pic- 
ture to have been painted about 1496. ‘The fate 
of Ludovico 1 Moro is well known: perhaps the 
blessed Virgin deemed a traitor and an assassin un- 
worthy of her protection. He died in the frightful 
prison of Loches after twelve years of captivity ; 
and both his sons, Maximilian and Francesco, 
were unfortunate. With them the family of Sforza 
and the independence of Milan were extinguished 
together in 1535. 

3. Another celebrated and most precious picture 
of this class is the Virgin of the Meyer family, 
painted by Holbein for the burgomaster Jaccb 
Meyer of Basle.* According to a family tradition, 
the youngest son of the burgomaster was sick even 
to death, and, through the merciful intercession of 
the Virgin, was restored to his parents, who, in 
pratitude, dedicated this offering. She stands on 
® pedestal in a richly ornamented niche; over her 
long fair hair, which falls down her shoulders to 
fer waist, she wears a superb crown; and her robe 


* Dresden Gal. The engraving py Steinle is justly celebrated. 


216 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


of a dark greenish blue is confined by a crimson 
girdle. In purity, dignity, humility, and intellect- 
nal grace, this exquisite Madonna has never been 
surpassed, not even by Raphael; the face, once 
seen, haunts the memory. The Child in her arms 
is generally supposed to be the infant Christ. I 
have fancied, as I look on the picture, that it may 
be the poor sick child recommended to her mercy, 
for the face is very pathetic, the limbs not merely 
delicate but attenuated, while, on comparing it with 
the robust child who stands below, the resemblance 
and the contrast are both striking. To the right 
of the Virgin kneels the burgomaster Meyer with 
two of his sons, one of whom holds the little brother 
who is restored to health, and seems to present him 
to the people. On the left kneel four females — 
the mother, the grandmother, and two daughters. 
All these are portraits, touched with that homely, 
vigorous truth, and finished with that consummate 
delicacy, which characterized Holbein in his hap- 
piest efforts; and, with their earnest but rather 
ugly and earthly faces, contrasting with the di- 
vinely compassionate and refined being who looks 
own on them with an air so human, so maternal, 
and yet so unearthly. 


Sometimes it is a single votary who kneels before 
the Madonna. In the old times he expressed hig 
humility by placing himself in a corner and mak- 
ing himself so diminutive as to be scarce visible 
afterwards, the head of the votary or donor is seen 


HAMILY VOTIVE MADONNAS. 217 


life-size, with hands jomed in prayer, just above 
the margin at the foot of the throne; care being 
taken to remove him from all juxtaposition with 
the attendant saints. But, as the religious feeling 
in art declined, the living votaries are mingled 
with the spiritual patrons — the “ human mortals ” 
with the “human immortals,” — with a disregard 
tc time and place, which, if it be not so lowly in 
spirit, can be rendered by a great artist strikingly 
poetical and significant. 

1. The renowned “ Madonna di Foligno,” one of 
Raphael’s masterpieces, is a votive picture of this 
class. It was dedicated by Sigismund Conti of Fo- 
ligno, private secretary to Pope Julius IL., and a 
distinguished man in other respects, a writer and a 
patron of learning. It appears that Sigismund hav- 
ing been in great danger from a meteor or thunder- 
bolt, vowed an offering to the blessed Virgin, to 
whom he attributed his safety, and in fulfilment of 
his vow consecrated this precious picture In the 
upper part of the composition sits the Virgin in 
heavenly glory; by her side the infant Christ, 
partly sustained by his mother’s veil, which is 
drawn round his body: both look down benignly on 
the votary Sigismund Conti, who, kneeling below, 
gazes up with an expression of the most intense 
gratitude and devotion. It is a portrait from the 
life, and certainly one of the finest and most life- 
“ke that exists in painting. Behind him stands St. 
Jerome, who, placing his hand upon the head of the 
rotary, seems to present him to his celestial proteo 


218 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


tress. On the oppcsite side John the Baptist, the 
meagre wild-looking prophet of the desert, points 
upward to the Redeemer. More in front kneels 
St. Francis, who, while he looks up to heaven with 
trusting and imploring love, extends his right hano 
towards the worshippers, supposed to be assembled 
in the church, recommending them also to the pro- 
tecting grace of the Virgin. In the centre of the pics 
ture, dividing these two groups, stands a lovely an- 
gel-boy holding in his hand a tablet, one of the most 
enarming figures of this kind Raphael ever painted; 
the head, looking up, has that sublime, yet perfectly 
childish grace, which strikes us in those awful angel- 
boys in the “ Madonna di San Sisto.” The back- 
ground is a landscape, in which appears the city of 
Foligno at a distance; it is overshadowed by a 
storm-cloud, and a meteor is seen falling; but above 
these bends a rainbow, pledge of peace and safety. 
The whole picture glows throughout with life and 
beauty, hallowed by that profound religious senti- 
ment which suggested the offering, and which the 
sympathetic artist seems to have caught from the 
grateful donor. It was dedicated in the church of 
the Ara-Cceli at Rome, which belongs to the Fran- 
ciscans; hence St. Francis is one of the principal 
figures. When I was asked, at Rome, why St. 
Jerome had been introduced into the picture, 1 
thought it might be thus accounted for:— The 
patron saint of the donor, St. Sigismund, was a 
king and a warrior, and Conti might possibly think 
that it did not accord with his profession, as an 


FAMILY VOTIVE MADONNAS., 219 


humble ecclesiastic, to introduce him here. The 
most celebrated convent of the Jeronimites in Italy 
that of St. Sigismund near Cremona, placed 
ander the special protection of St. Jerome, who is 
also in a general sense the patron of all ecclesias- 
tics; hence, perhaps, he figures here as the protec- 
tor of Sigismund Conti. The picture was painted, 
and placed over the high altar of the Ara-Ceeli in 
1511, when Raphael was in his twenty-eighth year. 
Conti died in 1512, and in 1565 his grandniece, 
Suora Anna Conti, obtained permission to remove 
it to her convent at Foligno, whence it was carried 
off by the French in 1792. Since the restoration 
of the works of art in Italy, in 1815, it has been 
placed among the treasures of the Vatican. 


2. Another perfect specimen of a votive picture 
of this kind, in a very different style, I saw in the 
museum at Rouen, attributed there to Van Eyck. 
It is, probably, a fine work by a later master of the 
school, perhaps Hemmelinck. In the centre, the 
Virgin is enthroned; the Child, seated on her 
knee, holds a bunch of grapes, symbol of the eu- 
charist. On the right of the Virgin is St. Apol- 
lonia; then two lovely angels in white raiment, 
with lutes in their hands; and then a female head, 
seen looking from behind, evidently a family por. 
trait. More in front, St. Agnes, splendidly dressed 
in green anu sable, her lamb at ner feet, turns 
with a questioning air to St. Catherine, who, in 
yueenly garb of crimson and ermine seems to con 


220 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


sult her book. Behind her another member of the 
family, a man with a very fine face; and more in 
front St. Dorothea, with a charming expression of 
modesty, looks down on her basket of roses. On 
the left of the Virgin is St. Agatha; then two 
augels in white with viols; then St. Cecilia; and 
near her a female head, another family portrait; 
next St. Barbara wearing a beautiful head-dress, in 
front of which is worked her tower, framed like an 
ornamental jewel in gold and pearls; she has a 
missal in her lap. St Lucia next appears; then 
another female portrait. All. the heads are about 
one fourth of the size of life. I stood in admiration 
before this picture — such miraculous finish in all 
the details, such life, such spirit, such delicacy im the 
heads and hands, such brilliant colour in the dra- 
peries! Of its history I could learn nothing, nor 
what family had thus introduced themselves into 
celestial companionship. The portraits seemed to 
me to represent a father, a mother, and two 
daughters. . 

I must mention some other instances of votiva 
Madonnas, interesting either from their beauty or 
their singularity. 

3. Réné, Duke of Anjou, and King of Sicily and 
Jerusalem, the father of our Amazonian queen, 
Margaret of Anjou, dedicated, in the church of the 
Carmelites, at Aix, the capital of his dommions, a 
votive picture, which is still to be seen there. It is 
uot only a monument of his piety, but of his ekill 


FAMILY VOTIVE MADONNAS. 22° 


for, according to the tradition of the country, he 
painted it himself. The good King Réné was nu 
contemptible artist; but though he may have sug- 
gested the subject, the hand of a practised and ac- 
complished painter is too apparent for us to suppose 
it his own work. 

This altar-piece in a triptychon, and when the 
doors are closed it measures twelve feet in height, 
and seven feet in width. On the outside of the 
doors is the Annunciation : to the left, the angel 
standing on a pedestal, under a Gothic canopy; to 
the right, the Virgin standing with her book, under 
a similar canopy: both graceful figures. On open- 
ing the doors, the central compartment exhibits the 
Virgin and her Child enthroned in a burning bush; 
the bush which burned with fire, and was not con- 
sumed, being a favourite type of the immaculate 
purity of the Virgin. Lower down, in front, Mo- 
ses appears surrounded by his flocks, and at the 
command of an angel is about to take off his 
sandals. The angel is most richly dressed, and on 
the clasp of his mantle is painted in minature Adam 
and Eve tempted by the serpent. Underneath 
this compartment, is the inscription, “ Rubum quem 
widerat Moyses, incombustum, conservatam agnovi- 
mus tuam laudabilem Virginitatem, Sancta Des 
Cenitriz.”* On the door to the right of the Vir- 
cin kneels King Réné himself before an altar, on 
which lies an open book and his kingly crown 


* For the relation of Moses to the Virgix ‘as attrit ute) v. the 
introduction. 


15 


Vou LEGENIS OF THE MADONNA. 


He is dressed in a robe trimmed with erm’ne, and 
wears a black velvet cap. Behind him, Mary Mag- 
dalene (the patroness of Provence), St Antony 
and St. Maurice. On the other door,s unne de 
Laval, the second wife of Réné, kneels before an 
open book; she is young and beautiful, and richly 
attired ; and behind her stand St. John (her patron 
saint), St. Catherine (very noble and elegant), and 
St. Nicholas. I saw this curious and interesting 
picture in 1846. It is very well preserved, and 
painted with great finish and delicacy in the man- 
ner of the early Flemish school. 

4. In a beautiful little picture by Van Eyck 
(Louvre, No. 162. Ecole Allemande), the Vir- 
gin is seated on a throne, holding in her arms the 
infant Christ, who has a globe in his left hand, and 
extends the right in the act of benediction. The 
Virgin is attired as a queen, in a magnificent robe 
falling in ample folds around her, and trimmed 
with jewels; an angel, hovering with outspread 
wings, holds a crown over her head. On the left 
of the picture, a votary, in the dress of a Flemish 
burgomaster, kneels before a Prie-Dieu, on which 
is an open book, and with clasped hands adores the 
Mother and her Child. The locality represents 4 
gallery or portico paved with marble, and sustained 
by pillars in a fantastic Moorish style. The whoie 
victure is quite exquisite for the delicacy of colour 
and execution. In the catalogue of the Louvre, 
this picture is entitled “St. Joseph adoring the In. 
fant Christ,”— an sbvious mistake, if we consides 


FAMILY VOTIVE MADONNAS. 223 


the style of the treatment and the customs of the 
time. 

5. All who have visited the church of the Frari at 
Venice will remember — for once seen, they never 
can forget—the ex-voto altar-piece which adorns the 
chapel of the Pesaro family. The beautiful Virgin 
is seated on a lofty throne to the right of the pic: 
ture, and presses to her bosom the Dio Bambinetto, 
who turns from her to bless the votary presented 
by St. Peter. The saint stands on the steps of the 
throne, one hand on a book; and behind him 
kneels one of the Pesaro family, who was at once 
bishop of Paphos and commander of the Pope’s gal- 
leys: he approaches to consecrate to the Madonna 
the standards taken from the Turks, which are 
borne by St. George, as patron of Venice. On 
the other side appear St. Francis and St. Antony 
of Padua, as patrons of the church in which the 
picture is dedicated. Lower down, kneeling on one 
side of the throne, is a group of various members 
of the Pesaro family, three of whom are habited in 
erimson robes, as Cavalieri di San Marco; the 
other, a youth about fifteen, looks out of the picture, 
astonishingly alive, and yet sufficiently idealized to 
harmonize with the rest. This picture is very re- 
markable for several reasons. It is a piece of fam- 
ily history, curiously illustrative of the manners of 
the time. The Pesaro here commemorated was an 
ecclesiastic, but appointed by Alexander VI. to 
command the galleys with which he joined the 
Venetian forces against the Turks in 1503. It is 


924 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


for this reason that St. Peter —as representative 
here of the Roman pontiff — introduces him to the 
Madonna, while St. George, as patron of Venice, 
attends him. The picture is a monument of the 
victory gained by Pesaro, and the gratitude and 
pride of his family. It is also one of the finest 
works of Titian; one of the earliest instances in 
which a really grand religious composition assumes 
almost a dramatic and scenic form, yet retains a 
certain dignity and symmetry worthy of its sol- 
emn destination.* 

6. I will give one more instance. There is in 
our National Gallery a Venetian picture which is 
striking from its peculiar and characteristic treat- 
ment. On one side, the Virgin with her Infant is 
seated on a throne; a cavalier, wearing armour 
and a turban, who looks as if he had jus* returned 
from the eastern wars, prostrates himself before 
her: in the background, a page (said to be the 
portrait of the painter) holds the horse of the vo- 
tary. The figures are life-size, or nearly so, as 
well as I can remember, and the sentimental dra- 
matic treatment is quite Venetian. It is supposed 
to represent a certain Duccio Constanzo of Tre- 


* We find in the catalogue of pictures which belonged to our 
Charles I. one which represented ‘‘a pope preferring a general 
of his navy to St. Peter.”? It is Pope Alexander VI. presenting 
this very Pesaro to St Peter; that is, in plain unpictorial prose, 
giving him the appointment of admiral of the galleys of thg 
Roman states. This interesting picture, after many vicissitudes 
ls now in the Museum at Antwerp. (See the Handbook to th 
Royal Galleries, p. 201.) 


HALKF-LENGTH ENTHRONED MADONNAS. 228 


viso, and was once attributed to Giorgione: it 1. 
vertainiy of the school of Bellini. (Nat. Gal. Cata. 
logue, 234.) 

As these enthroned and votive Virgins multi- 
plied, as it became more and more a fashion to 
dedicate them as offerings in churches, want of 
space, and perhaps, also, regard to expense, sug- 
gested the idea of representing the figures half- 
length. The Venetians, from early time the best 
face painters in the world, appear to have been the 
first to cut off the lower part of the figure, leaving 
the arrangement otherwise much the same. The 
Virgin is still a queenly and majestic creature, sit- 
ting there to be adored. A curtain or part of a 
carved chair represents her throne. The attend- 
ant saints are placed to the right and to the left; or 
sometimes the throne occupies one side of the pic- 
ture, and the saints are ranged onthe other. From 
the shape and diminished size of these votive pic- 
tures the personages, seen half-length, are necessa- 
rily placed very near to each other, and the heads 
nearly on a level with that of the Virgin, who is 
generally seen to the knees, while the Child is 
always full-length. In such compositions we miss 
the grandeur of the entire forms, and the con- 
sequent diversity of character and attitude; but 
sometimes the beauty and individuality of the heads 
atone for all other deficiencies. 


{n the earlier Venetian examples, those of Gian 


926 LEGENDS cF THE MADONNA. 


Bellini particularly, there is a solemn quiet eleva 
tion which renders them little inferior, in religious 
sentiment, to the most majestic of the enthroned 
and enskied Madonnas. 


There is a sacred group by Bellini, in the pos- 
session of Sir Charles Eastlake, which has alwaya 
appeared to me a very perfect specimen of this 
class of pictures. It is also the earliest I know of. 
The Virgin, pensive, sedate, and sweet, like all 
Bellini’s Virgins, is seated in the centre, and seen 
in front. The Child, on her knee, blesses with his 
right hand, and the Virgin places hers on the head 
of a votary, who just appears above the edge of 
the picture, with hands joined in prayer; he isa 
fine young man with an elevated and elegant pro- 
file. On the right are St. John the Baptist point- 
ing to the Saviour, and St. Catherine; on the left, 
St. George with his banner, and St. Peter holding 
his book. A similar picture, with Mary Magdalene 
and St. Jerome on the right, St. Peter and St. 
Martha on the left, is in the Leuchtenberg Gallery 
at Munich. Another of exquisite beauty is in the 
Venice Academy, in which the lovely St. Cathe- 
cine wears a crown of myrtle. 

Once introduced, these half-length enthroned 
Madonnas became very common, spreading from 
the Venetian states through the north of Italy, 
and we find innumerable examples from the best 
schools of art in Italy and Germany, from the mid 
dle of the fifteenth to the middle of the sixteeuth 


HALF-LENGTH ENTHRONED MADONNAS 22? 


sentury. I shall particularize a few of these, which 
will be sufficient to guide the attention of the ob- 
server; and we must carefully discriminate be- 
tween the sentiment proper to these half-length 
enthroned Madonnas, and the pastoral or domestic 
sacred groups and Holy Families, of which I shail 
have to treat hereafter. 

Raphael’s well-known Madonna della Seggiola 
and Madonna della Candelabra, are both enthroned 
Virgins in the grand style, though seen half-length 
In fact, the air of the, head ought, in the higher 
schools of art, at once to distinguish a Madonna m 
trono, even where only the head is visible. 


In a Milanese picture, the Virgin and Child appear 
between St. Laurence and St. John. The mannered 
and somewhat affected treatment is contrasted with 
the quiet, solemn simplicity of a group by Francia, 
where the Virgin and Child appear as objects of 
worship between St. Dominick and St. Barbara. 

The Child, standing or seated on a table or bal- 
ustrade in front, enabled the painter to vary the 
attitude, to take the infant Christ out of the arms 
of the Mother, and to render his figure more prom- 
inent. It was a favourite arrangement with the 
Venetians; and there is an instance in a pretty pic- 
ture in our National Gallery, attributed to Perugino. 

Sometimes, even where the throne and the at« 
tendant saints and angels show the group to be 
wholly devotional and exalted, we find the senti- 
ment varied by a touch of the dramatic, — by the 


228 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


mtroduction of an action; but it must be one 
of a wholly religious significance, suggestive of a 
religious feeling, or the subject ceases te be prop- 
erly devotional in character. 

There is a picture by Botticelli, before which, in 
walking up the corridor of the Florence Gallery, 1 
used, day after day, to make an involuntary pause 
of admiration. The Virgin, seated in a chair of 
state, but seen only to the knees, sustains her divine 
Son with one arm; four angels are in attendance, 
one of whom presents an inkhorn, another holds 
before her an open book, and she is in the act of 
writing the Magnificat, ‘“‘ My soul doth magnify the 
Lord!” The head of the figure behind the Virgin 
is the portrait of Lorenzo de’ Medici when a boy. 
There is absolutely no beauty of feature, either in 
the Madonna, or the Child, or the angels, yet every 
face is full of dignity and character. 

In a beautiful picture by Titian (Bel. Gal., Vi- 
enna. Louvre, No. 458), the Virgin is enthroned 
on the left, and on the right appear St. George and 
St. Laurence as listening, while St. Jerome reads 
from his great book. A small copy of this picture 
is at Windsor. 


The old German and Flemish painters, in treat- 
ing the enthroned Madonna, sometimes introduced 
accessories which no painter of the early Italian 
school would have descended to; and which tinge 
with a homely sentiment their most exalted con. 
teptions. Thus, I have seen a German Madonns 


THE MATER AMABILIS. 229 


seated on a superb throne, and most elaborately 
and gorgeously arrayed, pressing her Child to her: 
bosom with a truly maternal air ; while beside her, 
on a table, is a honeycomb, some butter, a dish of 
fruit, and a glass of water. (Bel. Gal., Vienna.) It 
is possible that in this case, as in the Virgin suck- 
ling her Child, there may be a religious allusion : — 
“ Butter and honey shall he eat,” &c. 


THE MATER AMABILIS. 


Ital. La Madonna col Bambino. La Madonna col celeste suo 
Figlio. Fr. La Vierge et Venfant Jesus. Ger. Maria mit dem 
Kind. 


THERE is yet another treatment of the Madonna 
and Child, in which the Virgin no longer retains 
the lofty goddess-like exaltation given to her in the 
old time. She is brought nearer to our sympathies. 
She is not seated in a chair of state with the ac- 
companiments of earthly power; she is not en- 
throned on clouds, nor glorified and star-crowned 
in heaven; she is no longer so exclusively the 
VerGinE Dea, nor the Virco Der GENITRIX ; 
but she is still the ALMA Mater REDEMPTORIS, 
the young, and lovely, and most pure mother of a 
livine Christ. She is not sustained in mid-air by 
angeis; she dwells lowly on earth; but the angels 
eave their celestial home to wait upon her. Such 
effigies, when conceived in a strictly ideal and de-. 
votional sense, I shall designate as the MATER 
4MABILIS. 


230 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


The first and simplest form of this beautiful and 
familiar subject, we find in those innumerable half- 
length figures of the Madonna holding her Child in 
her arms, painted chiefly for oratories, private or 
way-side chapels, and for the studies, libraries, and 
retired chambers of the devout, as an excitement te 
religious feeling, and a memorial of the mystery of 
the Incarnation, where large or grander subjeets, 
or more expensive pictures, would be misplaced. 
Though unimportant in comparison with the com- 
prehensive and magnificent church altar-pieces 
already described, there is no class of pictures so 
popular and so attractive, none on which the char- 
acter of the time and the painter is stamped more 
clearly and intelligibly, than on these simple repre- 
sentations. 

The Virgin is not here the dispenser of mercy; she 
is simply the mother of the Redeemer. She is occu- 
pied only by her divine Son. She caresses him, or 
she gazes on him fondly. She presents him to the 
worshipper. She holds him forth with a pensive 
joy as the predestined offering. If the profound 
religious sentiment of the early masters was after- 
wards obliterated by the unbelief and convention- 
alism of later art, still this favourite subject could 
not be so wholly profaned by degrading sentiments 
and associations, as the mere portrait heads of the 
Virgin alone. No matter what the model for the 
Madonna might have been, — a wife, a mistress, a 
contadina of Frascati, a Venetian Zitella, a Madd 
then of Nuremberg, a buxom Flemish Fr0w, — 


THE MATER AMABILIS. 231 


lor the Child was there; the baby innocence in 
her arms consecrated her into that “holiest thing 
alive,” a mother. The theme, however inadequately 
treated as regarded its religious significance, was 
sanctified in itself beyond the reach of a profane 
thought. Miserable beyond the reach of hope, 
dark below despair, that moral atmosphere which 
the presence of sinless unconscious infancy cannot 
for a moment purify or hallow ! 

Among the most ancient and most venerable of 
the effigies of the Madonna, we find the old Greek 
pictures of the Mater Amabilis, if that epithet can 
be properly applied to the dark-coloured, sad-vis- 
aged Madonnas generally attributed to St. Luke, 
or transcripts of those said to be painted by him, 
which exist in so many churches, and are, or were, 
supposed by the people to possess a peculiar sanc- 
tity. These are almost all of oriental origin, or 
painted to imitate the pictures brought from the 
Kast in the tenth or twelfth century. There area 
few striking and genuine examples of these ancient 
Greek Madonnas in the Florentine Gallery, and, 
nearer at hand, in the Wallerstein collection at 
Kensington Palace. They much resemble each 
other in the general treatment. 

The infinite variety which painters have given 
to this most simple motif, the Mother and the Child 
only, without accessories or accompaniments of any 
kind, exceeds all possibility of classification, either 
as to attitude or sentiment. Here Raphael shone 
tupreme: the simplivity, the tenderness, the hale 


232 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


of purity and virginal dignity, which he threw 
round the Mater Amabilis have never been sur 
passed — in his best pictures, never equalled. The 
“ Madonna del Gran-Duca,” where the Virgin holds 
the Child seated on her arm; the “ Madonna Tem- 
pi,” where she so fondly presses her cheek to his, 
— are perhaps the most remarkable for simplicity. 
The Madonna of the Bridgewater Gallery, where 
the Infant lies on her knees, and the Mother and 
Son look into each other’s eyes; the little “ Madon- 
na Conestabile,” where she holds the book, and the 
infant Christ, with a serious yet perfectly childish 
grace, bends to turn over the leaf, — are the most 
remarkable for sentiment. 

Other Madonnas by Raphael, containing three 
or more figures, do not belong to this class of pic- 
tures. They are not strictly devotional, but are 
properly Holy Families, groups and scenes from 
the domestic life’ of the Virgin. 

With regard to other painters before or since his 
time, the examples of the Mater Amabilis so 
abound in public and private galleries, and have 
been so multiplied in prints, that comparison is 
within the reach of every observer. I will content 
myself with noticing a few of the most remarkable 
for beauty or characteristic treatment. ‘Two paint- 
ers, who eminently excelled in simplicity and purt- 
ty of sentiment, are Gian Bellini of Venice, and 
Bernardino Luini of Milan. Squarcione, though 
often fantastic, has painted one or two of these 
Madonnas, remarkable for simplicity and dignity 


oye 


THE MATER AMABILIS. 233 


as also his pupil Mantegna; though in both the 
style of execution is somewhat hard and cold. In 
the one by Fra Bartolomeo, there is such a deptk 
of maternal tenderness in the expression and atti 
tude, we wonder where the good monk found his 
mcdel. In his own heart? in his dreams? <A 
Mater Amabilis by one of the Caracci or by Van- 
dyck is generally more elegant and dignified than 
tender. The Madonna, for instance, by Annibal, 
has something of the majestic sentiment of an en- 
throned Madonna. Murillo excelled in this subject ; 
although most of his Virgins have a portrait air of 
common life, they are redeemed by the expression. 
In one of these, the Child, looking out of the pic- 
ture with extended arms and eyes full of divinity, 
seems about to spring forth to fulfil his mission. 
In another he folds his little hands, and looks up 
to Heaven, as if devoting himself to his appointed 
suffering, while the Mother looks down upon him 
with a tender resignation. (Leuchtenberg Gal.) 
In a noble Madonna by Vandyck (Bridgewater 
Gal.), it is she herself who devotes him to do hia 
Father’s will; and I still remember a picture of 
this class, by Carlo Cignani (Belvedere Gal., Vi- 
enna), which made me start, with the intense ex- 
pression: the Mother presses to her the Child, who 
holds a cross in his baby hand; she looks up to 
heaven with an appealing look of love and an- 
guish, — almost of reproach. Guido did not excel 
so much in children, as in the Virgin alone. Pous- 
tin, Carlo Dolce, Sasso Ferrato, and, in general, all 


234 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


the painters of the seventeenth century, give us 
pretty women and pretty children. We may pass 
them over. 

A second version of the Mater Amabilis, repre- 
senting the Virgin and Child full-length, but with- 
out accessories, has been also very beautifully 
treated. She is usually seated in a landscape, and 
frequently within the mystical enclosure (Hortus 
clausus), which is sometimes in the German pic- 
tures a mere palisade of stakes or boughs. 

Andrea Mantegna, though a fantastic painter, 
had generally some meaning in his fancies. There 
is a fine picture of his in which the Virgin and 
Child are seated in a landscape, and in the. back- 
ground is a stone-quarry, where a number of fig- 
ures are seen busily at work; perhaps hewing the 
stone to build the new temple of which our Sav- 
iour was the corner-stone. (Florence Gal.) In a 
group by Cristofano Allori, the Child places a 
wreath of flowers on the brow of his Mother, hold- 
ing in his other hand his own crown of thorns: one 
of the fancies of the later schools of art. 

The introduction of the little St. John into the 
group of the Virgin and Child lends it a charming 
significance and variety, and is very popular; we 
must, however, discriminate between the familiarity 
of the domestic subject and the purely religious 
treatment. When the Giovannino adores with 
folded hands, as acknowledging in Chriss a aupe- 
rior power, or kisses his feet humbly, vt porats te 
him exulting, then it is evident that we have 4he 


THE MATER AMABILIS. 235 


‘wo Children in their spiritual character, the Child, 
Priest and King, and the Child, Prophet. 

In a picture by Lionardo da Vinci (Coll. of the 
Earl of Suffolk), the Madonna, serious and beauti- 
ful, without either crown or veil, and adorned only 
by her long fair hair, is seated on a rock. On one 
pide, the little Christ, supported in the arms of an 
angel, raises his hand in benediction ; on the other 
side, the young St. John, presented by the Virgin, 
kneels in adoration. 

Where the Children are merely embracing each 
other, or sporting at the et of the Virgin, or play- 
ing with the cross, or with a bird, or with the lamb, 
or with flowers, we might call the treatment do- 
mestic or poetical; but where St. John is taking 
the cross from the hand of Christ, it is clear, from 
the perpetual repetition of the theme, that it is 
intended to express a religious allegory. It is the 
mission of St. John as Baptist and Prophet. He 
receives the symbol of faith ere he goes forth to 
preach and to convert, or as it has been inter- 
preted, he, in the sense used by our Lord, “ takes 
up the cross of our Lord.” The first is, I think, 
the meaning when the cross is enwreathed with 
the Ecce Agnus Dei; the latter, when it is a sim- 
ple cross. 

In Raphael’s “ Madonna della Famiglia Alva,” 
(now in the Imp. Gal., St. Petersburg), and in his 
Madonna of the Vienna Gallery, Christ gives the 
eross to St. John. In a picture of the Lionarde 
school in the Louvre we have the same action; and 


236 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


again in a graceful group by Guido, which, in the 
engraving, bears this inscription, “ Qui non accipul 
crucem suam non est me dignus.” (Matt. x. 38.) 
This, of course, fixes the signification. 

Another, and, as I think, a wholly fanciful inter- 
pretation, has been given to this favourite group by 
Tieck and by Monckton Milnes. The Children 
contend for the cross. The little St. John begs te 
have it. 

uive me the cross, I pray you, dearest Jesus! 

O if you knew how much I wish to have it, 

You would not hold it in your hand so tightly. 

Something has told me, something in my breast here, 

Which I am sure is true, that if you keep it, 

If you will let no other take it from you, 

Terrible things I cannot bear to think of 

Must fall upon you. Show me that you love me: 

Am I not here to be your little servant, 

Follow your steps, and wait upon your wishes? ” 


But Christ refuses to yield the terrible plaything, 
and claims his privilege to be the elder “in the 
heritage of pain.” 

In a picture by Carlo Maratti, I think this action 
ts evident — Christ takes the cross, and St. John 
yields it with reluctance. 

A beautiful version of the Mater Amabilis is the 
MapreE Pra, where the Virgin in her divine In- 
fant acknowledges and adores the Godhead. We 
must be careful to distinguish this subject from the 
Nativity, for it is common, in the scene of the birth 
ef the Saviour at Bethlehem, to represent the Vir 
gin adoring her new-born Child. The presence of 


LA MADRE PIA, 237 


Joseph — the ruined shed or manger — the ox and 
ass, — these express the event. But in the Mapre 
Pra properly so called, the locality, and the acces- 
sories, if any, are purely ideal and poetical, and 
have no reference to time or place. The early 
Florentines, particularly Lorenzo di Credi, excelled 
in this charming subject. 

There is a picture by Filippino Lippi, which 
appears to me eminently beautiful and poetical. 
Here the mystical garden is formed of a balustrade, 
beyond which is seen a hedge all in a blush with 
roses. The Virgin kneels in the midst, and adores 
her Infant, who has his finger on his lip (Verbum 
sum /!); an angel scatters rose-leaves over him, 
while the little St. John also kneels, and four an- 
gels, in attitudes of adoration, complete the group. 

But a more perfect example is the Madonna by 
Francia in the Munich Gallery, where the divine 
Infant lies on the flowery turf; and the mother, 
standing before him and looking down on hin, 
seems on the point of sinking on her knees in a 
transport of tenderness and devotion. ‘This, to my 
feeling, is one of the most perfect pictures in the 
world; it leaves nothing to be desired. With all 
the simplicity of the treatment it is strictly devo- 
tional. The Mother and her Child are placed 
within the mystical garden enclosed in a treillage 
of roses, alone with each other, and apart from all 
earthly associations, all earthly communion. 

The beautiful altar-piece by Perugino in our 
National Gallery is properly a Madre Pia; the 

16 


938 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


child seated on a cushion is sustained by an angel 
the mother kneels before him. 

The famous Correggio in the Florentine Gallery 
is also a Madre Pia. It is very tender, sweet, and 
maternal. The Child lying on part of his moth- 
er’s blue mantle, so arranged that while she kneels 
and bends over him, she cannot change her atti- 
tude without disturbing him, is a concetto admired 
by critics in sentiment and Art; but it appears to 
me very inferior and commonplace in comparison 
to the Francia at Munich. 

In a group by Botticelli, angels sustain the In- 
fant, while the mother, seated, with folded hands, 
adores him; and in a favourite composition by 
Guido he sleeps. 

And, lastly, we have the Mater Amabilis in a 
more complex and picturesque, though still devo- 
tional, form. The Virgin, seen at full length, re- 
clines on a verdant bank, or is seated under a tree. 
She is not alone with her Child. Holy personages, 
admitted to a communion with her, attend around 
her, rather sympathizing than adoring. The love 
of varied nature, the love of life under all its as 
pects, became mingled with the religious concep 
tion. Instead of carefully avoiding whatever may 
remind us of her earthly relationship, the members 
of her family always form a part of her cortége. 
This pastoral and dramatic treatment began with 
the Venetian and Paduan schools, and extended te 
the early German schools, which were allied te 
them in feeling, though contrasted with them im 
form and execution. 


zm 


PASTORAL MADONNAS. 23S 


The perpetual introduction of St. Joseph, St 
Klizabeth, and other relatives of the Virgin (al: 
ways avoided in a Madonna dell Trono), would 
compose what is called a Holy Family, but that the 
presence of sainted personages whose existence and 
history belong to a wholly different era — St. Cath- 
erine, St. George, St. Francis, or St. Dominick — 
takes the composition out of the merely domestic 
and historical, and lifts it at once into the ideal and 
devotional line of art. Such a group cannot well 
be styled a Sacra Famiglia; itis a Sacra Conversa- 
zione treated in the pastoral and lyrical rather than 
the lofty epic style. 

In this subject the Venetians, who first intro- 
duced it, excel all other painters. There is no ex- 
ample by Raphael. The German and Flemish 
painters who adopted this treatment were often 
coarse and familiar; the later Italians became 
flippant and fantastic. The Venetians alone 
knew how to combine the truest feeling for na- 
ture with a sort of Elysian grace. 

I shall give a few examples. 

1. In a picture by Titian (Dresden Gal.), the 
Virgin is seated on a green bank enamelled with 
flowers. She is simply dressed like a contadina, in 
a crimson tunic, and a white veil half shading her 
fair hair. She holds in her arms her lovely Infant, 
who raises his little hand in benediction. St. Cath- 
erine kneels before him on one side; on the other, 
st. Barbara. St. John the Baptist, not as a child. 
and the contemporary of ovr Saviour, but ip |. ke- 


240 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


ness of an Arcadian shepherd, kneels with his cross 
and his lamb — the Ecce Agnus Dei, expressed, not 
in words, but in form. St. George stands by asa 
guardian warrior. And St. Joseph, leaning on his 
stick behind, contemplates the group with an air of 
dignified complacency. 

2. There is another instance also from Titian. 
In a most luxuriant landscape thick with embower- 
ing trees, and the mountains of Cadore in the back- 
ground, the Virgin is seated on a verdant bank; 
St. Catherine has thrown herself on her knees, and 
stretches out her arms to the divine Child in an 
ecstasy of adoration, in which there is nothing un- 
seemly or familiar. At a distance St. John the 
Baptist approaches with his lamb. 

3. In another very similar group, the action of 
St. Catherine is rather too familiar, — it is that of 
an elder sister or a nurse: the young St. John 
kneels in worship. 

4. Wonderfully fine is a picture of this class by 
Palma, now in the Dresden Gallery. The noble, 
serious, sumptuous loveliness of the Virgin; the 
exquisite Child, so thoughtful, yet so infantine; the 
manly beauty of the St. John; the charming humil- 
ty of the St. Catherine as she presents her palm, 
form one of the most perfect groups in the world. 
Childhood, motherhood, maidenhood, manhood, were 
never, I think, combined in so sweet a spirit of hu 
manity.* 

* When I was at Dresden, in 1850, I found Steinle, so cele 
brated for his engravings of the Madonna di San Sisto and ths 


om 


PASTORAL MADONNAS. 24, 


5. In another picture by Palma, in the same ga} 
,ery, we have the same picturesque arrangement 
of the Virgin and Child, while the little St. John 
adores with folded hands, and St. Catherine sits bv 
in tender contemplation. 

This Arcadian sentiment is carried as far as could 
well be allowed in a picture by Titian (Louvre, 
459), known as the Vierge au Lapin. The Virgin 
holds a white rabnit, towards which the infant Christ, 
in the: arms of St. Catherine, eagerly stretches his 
hand. In a picture by Paris Bordone it is carried, 
I think, too far. The Virgin reclines under a tree 
with a book in her hand; opposite to her sits St. 
Joseph holding an apple; between them, St. John 
the Baptist, as a bearded man, holds in his arms the 
mfant Christ, who caressingly puts one arm round 
his neck, and with the other clings to the rough 
hairy raiment of his friend. 


It will be observed, that in these Venetian exam: 
ples St. Catherine, the beloved protectress of Ven. 
“ce, is seldom omitted. She is not here the learned 
princess who confounded tyrants and converted 
philosophers, but a bright-haired, full-fermed Vene- 
tian maiden, glowing with love and life, yet touched 
with a serious grace, inexpressibly charming. 

St. Dorothea is also a favourite saint in these 
sacrel patorals. There is an instance in which 
Holbein Madonna, employed on this picture; and, as far as hia 


art could go, transferring to his copper all the fervour and the 
morbidezza of the origina’. 


242 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


she is seated by the Virgin with her basket of fruits 
and flowers; and St. Jerome, no longer beating 
his breast in penance, but in likeness of a fond old 
grandfather, stretches out his arms to the Child. 
Much finer is a picture now in the possession of Sit 
Charles Eastlake. The lovely Virgin is seated 
ander a tree: on one side appears the angel 
Raphael, presenting Tobit; on the other, St. Dor- 
othea, kneeling, holds up her basket of celestial 
fruit, gathered for her in Paradise.* 

When St. Ursula, with her standard, appears 1n 
these Venetian pastorals, we may suppose the pic- 
ture to have been painted for the famous brother- 
hood (Scuola di Sant’ Orsola) which bears her 
name. ‘Thus, in a charming picture by Palma, she 
appears before the Virgin, accompanied by St. Mark 
a protector of Venice. (Vienna, Belvedere Gal.) 

Ex-voto pictures in this style are very interest- 
ing, and the votary, without any striking impro- 
priety, makes one of the Arcadian group. Very 
appropriate, too, is the marriage of St. Catherine, 
often treated in this poetical style. In a picture by 
Titian, the family of the Virgin attend the mysti- 
cal rite, and St. Anna places the hand of St. Cath- 
erine in that of the Child. 

in a group by Signorelli, Christ appears as if 
teaching St. Catherine; he dictates, and she, the 
patroness of “divine philosophy,” writes down hia 
words. 


* See Sacred and Legendary Art, for the beautiful Legend 
Wt, Dorothea. 


PASTORAL MADONNAS. 24% 


When the later painters in their great altar- 
pieces imitated this idyllic treatment, the graceful 
Venetian conception became in their hands heavy, 
mannered, tasteless, — and sometimes worse. The 
monastic saints or mitred dignitaries, introduced 
into familiar and irreverent communion with the 
sacred and ideal personages, in spite of the grand 
scenery, strike us as at once prosaic and fantastic 
“we marvel how they got there.” Parmigiano, 
when he fled from the sack of Rome in 1527, 
painted at Bologna, for the nuns of Santa Mar- 
gherita, an altar-piece which has been greatly cele- 
prated. ‘The Madonna, holding her Child, is seated 
in a landscape under a tree, and turns her head to 
the Bishop St. Petronius, protector of Bologna. St. 
Margaret, kneeling and attended by her great 
dragon, places one hand, with a free and easy air, 
on the knee of the Virgin, and with the other 
seems to be about to chuck the infant Christ 
under the chin. In a large picture by Giacomo 
Francia, the Virgin, walking in a flowery meadow 
with the infant Christ and St. John, and attended 
by St. Agnes and Mary Magdalene, meets St. 
Francis and St. Dominick, also, apparently, taking 
a walk. (Berlin Gal. No. 281.) And again ;— the 
Madonna and St. Elizabeth meet with their chil- 
dren in a landscape, while St. Peter, St. Paul, and 
St Benedict stand behind in attitudes of atten- 
tion and admiration. Now, such pictures may be 
excellently well painted, greatly praised by con- 
noisseurs. and held in “ somma venerazicne,” but 


844 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


they are offensive as regards the religious feeling, 
and are, in point of taste, mannered, fantastic, and 
secular. 





Here we must end our discourse concerning the 
Virgin and Child as a devotional subject. Very 
easily and delightfully to the writer, perhaps not 
painfully to the reader, we might have gone on te 
the end of the volume; but my object was not to 
exhaust the subject, to point out every interesting 
variety of treatment, but to lead the lover of art, 
wandering through a church or gallery, to new 
sources of pleasure; to show him what infinite 
shades of feeling and character may still be traced 
in a subject which, with all its beauty and attrac- 
tiveness, might seem to have lost its significant in- 
terest, and become trite from endless repetition ; to 
lead the mind to some perception of the intention 
of the artist in his work,— under what aspect he 
had himself contemplated and placed before the 
worshipper the image of the mother of Christ, — 
whether crowned and enthroned as the sovereign 
lady of Christendom; or exalted as the glorious 
empress of heaven and all the spiritual world; or 
bending benignly over us, the impersonation of 
gympathizing womanhood, the emblem of relenting 
ove, the solace of suffering humanity, the maid 
and mother, dear and undefiled — 


“ Created beings all in lowliness 
Surpassing, as in height above them all.” 


PASTORAL MADONNAS. 245 


It is time to change the scene,— to contemplate 
the Virgin, as she has been exhibited to us in the 
relations of earthly life, as the mere woman, acting 
and suffering, loving, living, dying, fulfilling the 
highest destinies in the humblest state, in the meek- 
est spirit. So we begin her history as the ancient 
artists have placed it before us, with that mingled 
naiveté and reverence, that vivid dramatic power, 
which only faith, and love, and genius united, could 
impart. 


HISTORICAL SUBJECTS. 


i 


PART I. 


THE LIFE Ol THE VIRGIN MARY FROM 
HER BIRTH TO HER MARRIAGE WITH 
JOSEPH. 


l. THE LEGEND OF JOACHIM AND ANNA. 
2 THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 
8. THE DEDICATION IN THE TEMPLE. 4. THE 
MARRIAGE WITH JOSEPH. 


THE LEGEND OF JOACHIM AND ANNA. 


Ttal. La Leggenda di Sant’ Anna Madre della Gloriosa Vergine 
Maria, e di San Gioacchino. 


Or the sources whence are derived the popular 
legends of the life of the Virgin Mary, which, mixed 
up with the few notices in Scripture, formed one 
continuous narrative, authorized by the priesthood, 
and accepted and believed in by the people, I have 
spoken at length in the Introduction. We have 
sow to consider more particularly the scenes and 
characters associated with her history; to show 
how the artists of the Middle Ages, under the 
guidance and by the authority of the Church 
treated in detail these favourite themes in eccle 
siastical decoration. 


LEGEND OF JOACHIM AND ANNA. 242 


~ In early art, that is, up to the end of the fifteenth 
eentury, Joachim and Anna, the parents of the 
Virgin, never appear except in the series of sub- 
jects from her life. In the devotional groups and 
altar-pieces, they are omitted. St. Bernard, the 
great theological authority of those times, objects te 
the invocation of any saints who had lived before 
the birth of Christ, consequently to their introduc- 
tion into ecclesiastical edifices in any other light 
than as historical personages. Hence, perhaps, 
there were scruples relative to the representations 
of St. Anna, which, from the thirteenth to the fif- 
teenth century, placed the artists under certain 
restrictions. 

Under the name of Anna, the Church has hon- 
oured, from remote times, the memory of the 
mother of the Virgin. The Hebrew name, signi- 
fying Grace, or the Gracious, and all the traditions 
concerning her, canze to us from the East, where 
she was so early venerated as a saint, that a church 
was dedicated to her by the Emperor Justinian, 
in 550. Several other churches were subsequently 
dedicated to her in Constantinople during the sixth 
and seventh centuries, and her remains are said to 
have been deposited there in 710. In the West, 
she first became known in the reign of Charle- 
magne; and the Greek apocryphal gospels, or at 
least stories and extracts from them, began to be 
circulated about the same period. From these are 
derived the historic scenes and legendary subjects 
relating to Joachim and Anna which appear in 


248 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


early art. It was about 1500, in the beginning of 
the sixteenth century, that the increasing venera- 
tion for the Virgin Mary gave to her parents, more 
especially to St. Anna, increased celebrity as pa 
tron saints ; and they became, thenceforward, mora 
frequent characters in the sacred groups. The 
feast of St. Anna was already general and popular 
throughout Europe long before it was rendered ob 
ligatory in 1584.* The growing enthusiasm for the 
doctrine of the Immaculate Conception gave, of 
course, additional splendour and importance to her 
character. Still, it is only in later times that we 
find the effigy of St. Anna separated from that of 
the Virgin. There is a curious picture by Cesi 
(Bologna Gal.), in which St. Anna kneels before a 
vision of her daughter before she is born —the Vir- 
gin of the Immaculate Conception. A fine model 
of a bearded man was now sometimes converted 
into a St. Joachim reading or meditating, instead of 
a St. Peter or a St. Jerome, as heretofore. In the 
Munich Gallery are two fine ancient-looking fig- 
ures of St. Joachim the father, and St. Joseph the 
husband, of the Virgin, standing together; but all 
these as separate representations, are very uncoms 
mon 3 and, of those which exhibit St. Anna devo- 
tionally, as enthroned with the Virgin and Child, I 
have already spoken. Like St. Elizabeth, she 
should be an elderly, but not a very old woman. 
Joachim, in such pictures, never appears but as ar, 


* In England we have twenty-eight churches dedicated in th¢ 
aame of St. Anna, 


LEGEND OF JOACHIM AND ANNA. 24% 


attendant saint, and then very rarely ; always very 
old, and sometimes in the dress of a priest, which - 
however, is a mistake on the part of the artist. 


A complete series of the history of the Blesse¢ 
Virgin, as imaged forth by the early artists, al- 
ways begins with the legend of Joachim and An- 
na, which is thus related. 

“ There was a man of Nazareth, whose name 
was Joachim, and he had for his wife a woman of 
Bethlehem, whose name was Anna, and both were 
of the royal race of David. ‘Their lives were pure 
and righteous, and they served the Lord with sin- 
gleness of heart. And being rich, they divided their 
substance into three portions, one for the service of 
the temple, one for the poor and the strangers, and 
the third for their household. On a certain feast 
day, Joachim brought double offerings to the Lord 
according to his custom, for he said,‘ Out of my su- 
perfluity will I give for the whole people, that I 
may find favour in the sight of the Lord, and for- 
giveness for my sins.’ And when the children of 
Israel brought their gifts, Joachim also brought his; 
but the high priest Issachar stood over against him 
and opposed him, saying, ‘It is not lawful for thee 
to bring thine offering, seeing that thou hast not 
begot issue in Israel.’ And Joachim was exceeding 
sorrowful, and went down to his house; and ha 
searched through all the registers of the twelve 
tribes to discover if he alone had been childless 


250 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


in Israel. And he found that all the righteous 
men, and the patriarchs who had lived before 
him, had been the fathers of sons and daughters. 
And he called to mind his father Abraham, te 
whom in his old age had been granted a son, even 
Isaac. 

“ And Joachim was more and more sorrowful, 
and he would not be seen by his wife, but avoided 
her, and went away into the pastures where were 
the shepherds and the sheep-cotes. And he built 
himself a hut, and fasted forty days and forty 
nights; for he said ‘Until the Lord God look 
upon me mercifully, prayer shall be my meat 
and my drink.’ 

“But his wife Anna remained lonely in her 
house, and mourned with a twofold sorrow, for her 
widowhood and for her barrenness. 

“Then drew near the last day of the feast of the 
Lord; and Judith her handmaid said to Anna, 
‘ How long wilt thou thus afflict thy soul? Behold 
the feast of the Lord is come, and it is not lawful 
for thee thus to mourn. ‘Take this silken fillet, 
which was bestowed on me by one of high de- 
gree whom I formerly served, and bind it round 
thy head, for it is not fit that I who am thy hand- 
maid should wear it, but it is fitting for thee, whose 
brow is as the brow of a crowned queen.’ And 
Anna replied, ‘Begone! such things are not for 
me, for the Lord hath humbled me. As for thig 
fillet, some wicked person hath given it to thee 
and art thou come to make me a partaker in thy 


LEGEND OF JUaCHIM AND ANNA. 25 


sin?’ And Judith her maid answered, ‘ What 
evil shall I wish thee since thou wilt not hearken ta 
my voice? for worse I cannot wish thee than that 
with which the Lord hath afflicted thee, seeing that 
he hath shut up thy womb, that thou shouldst not 
be a mother in Israel.’ 

“ And Anna hearing these words was sorely 
troubled. And she laid aside her mourning gar 
ments, and she adorned her head, and put on her bri- 
dal attire; andat the ninth hour she went forth inte 
her garden, and sat down under a laurel tree and 
prayed earnestly. And looking up to heaven, she 
saw within the laurel bush a sparrow’s nest; and 
mourning within herself she said, ‘ Alas! and woe 
is me! who hath begotten me? who hath brought 
me forth ? that I should be accursed in the sight of 
Israel, and scorned and shamed before my people, 
aud cast out of the temple of the Lord! Woe is 
me! to what shall I be likened? I cannot be 
likened to the fowls of heaven, for the fowls of 
heaven are fruitful in thy sight, O Lord! Woe is 
me! to what shall I be likened? Not to the un- 
reasoning beasts of the earth, for they are fruitful 
in thy sight, O Lord! Woe is me! to what shall I 
be likened? Not to these waters, for they are fruit- 
ful in thy sight, O Lord! Woe is me! to wha 
shall I be likened? Not unto the earth, for the 
earth bringeth forth her fruit in due season, and 
praiseth thee, O Lord !’ 

«¢ And behold an angel of the Lord stood by her 
and said, ‘ Anna, thy prayer is heard, thou shalf 


' 
B52 LEGEN JS OF THE MADONNA. 


bring forth, and thy child shall be blessed through 
out the whole world.” And Anna said, ‘As the 
Lord liveth, whatever I shall bring forth, be it a 
man-child or a maid, I will present it an offering to 
the Lord.’ And behold another angel came and 
said to her, ‘ See, thy husband Joachim is coming 
with his shepherds ;’ for an angel had spoken to 
him also, and had comforted him with promises. 
And Anna went forth to meet her husband, and 
Joachim came from the pasture with his herds, and 
they met at the golden gate; and Anna ran and 
embraced her husband, and hung upon his neck, 
saying, ‘ Now know I that the Lord hath blessed 
me. I who was a widow am no longer a widow; I 
who was barren shall become a joyful mother.’ 

“ And they returned home together. 

“¢ And when her time was come, Anna brought 
forth a daughter; and she said, ‘ This day my soul 
magnifieth the Lord.’ And she laid herself down 
in her bed; and she called the name of her child 
Mary, which in the Hebrew is Miriam.” 


With the scenes of this beautiful pastoral begins 
the life of the Virgin. 

1. We have first Joachim rejected from the tem- 
ple. He stands on the steps before the altar hold- 
ng a lamb; and the high priest opposite to him, 
with arm upraised, appears to refuse his offering, 
Such is the usual motif; but the incident has been 
variously treated —in the earlier and ruder ex. 
amples, with a ‘ucicrous weat ~f dinity ; for Jom 


LEGEND OF JOACHIM AND ANNA. 258 


shim is almost tumbling down the steps of the 
temple to avoid the box on the ear which Issachar 
the priest is in the act of bestowing in a most ener- 
getic fashion. On the other hand, the group by 
Taddeo Gaddi (Florence, Baroncelli Chapel, S. 
Croce), though so early in date, has not since been 
excelled either in the grace or the dramatic signifi- 
cance of the treatment. Joachim turns away, with 
his lamb in his arms, repulsed, but gently, by the 
priest. To the right are three personages who 
bring offerings, one of whom, prostrate on his knees, 
yet looks up at Joachim with a sneering expression 
—a fine representation of the pharisaical piety of 
one of the elect, rejoicing in the humiliation of a 
brother. On the other side are three persons who 
appear to be commenting on the scene. In the 
more elaborate composition by Ghirlandajo (Flor- 
ence, S. Maria Novella), there is a grand view into 
the interior of the temple, with arches richly sculp- 
tured. Joachim is thrust forth by one of the at- 
tendants, while in the background the high priest 
accepts the offering of a more favoured votary. On 
each side are groups looking on, who express the 
contempt and hatred they feel for one, who, not 
having children, presumes to approach the altar. 
All these, according to the :ustom of Ghirlandajo, 
are portraits of distinguished persons. ‘The first 
figure on the right represents the painter Baldovi- 
netti; next to him, with his hand on his side, Ghir- 
landajo himself; the third, with long black hair, 1s 
Bastiano Mainardi, who painted the Assumptior 
17 


254 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


in the Baroncelli Chapel, in the Santa Croce; and 
the fourth, turning his back, is David Ghirlandajo, 
These real personages are so managed, that, while 
they are not themselves actors, they do not interfere 
with the main action, but rather embellish and 
illustrate it, like the chorus in a Greek tragedy. 
Every single figure in this fine fresco is a study for 
manly character, dignified attitude, and easy grand 
lrapery. | 

In the same scene by Albert Durer,* the high 
priest, standing behind a table, rejects the offering 
of the lamb, and his attendant pushes away the 
doves. Joachim makes a gesture of despair, and 
several persons who bring offerings look at him 
with disdain or with sympathy. 

The same scene by Luini (Milan, Brera) is con- 
ceived with much pathetic as well as dramatic 
effect. . But as I have said enough to render the 
subject easily recognized, we proceed. 


2. “Joachim herding his sheep on the moun- 
tain, and surrounded by his shepherds, receives the 
message of the angel.” This subject may so nearly 
resemble the Annunciation to the Shepherds in St. 
Luke’s Gospel, that we must be careful to distin- 
guish them, as, indeed, the best of the old painters 
have done with great taste and feeling. 

In the fresco by Taddeo Gaddi (in the Baroncell. 
Chapel), Joachim is seated on a rocky mountain, 
at the base of which his sheep are feeding, anc 

* In the set of wood-cuts of the Life of the Virgin. 


LEGEND OF JOACHIM AND ANNA. 255 


turns round to listen to the voice of the angel. In 
the fresco by Giotto in the Arena at Padua, the © 
treatment is nearly the same.* In the series by 
Luini, a stream runs down the centre of the pic- 
ture; on one side is Joachim listening to the angel, 
on the other, Anna is walking in her garden. This 
incident is omitted by Ghirlandajo. In Albert 
Durer’s composition, Joachim is seen in the fore- 
ground kneeling, and looking up at an angel, who 
holds out in both hands a sort of parchment roll 
looking like a diploma with seals appended, and 
which we may suppose to contain the message from 
on high (if it be not rather the emblem of the sealed 
book, so often introduced, particularly by the Ger- 
man masters). A companion of Joachim also looks 
up with amazement, and farther in the distance are 
sheep and shepherds. 

The Annunciation to St. Anna may be easily 
mistaken for the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary; 
— we must therefore be careful to discriminate, by 
an attention to the accessories. Didron observes 
‘hat in Western art the annunciation to St. Anna 
usually takes place in a chamber. In the East it 
takes place in a garden, because there “ on vit peu 
dans les maisons et beaucoup en plein air ;” but, 
according to the legend, the locality ought to be a 
garden, and under a laurel tree, which is not 
always attended to. 


* The subject will be found in the set of wood-cuts published 
by the Arundel Society. 


856 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


3. The altercation between St. Anna and het 
maid Judith I have never met with but once, in 
the series by Luini, where the disconsolate figure 
and expression of St. Anna are given with infinite 
grace and sentiment. (Milan, Brera.) 


4. “The meeting of Joachim and Anna before 
the golden gate.” This is one of the most impor- 
tant subjects. It has been treated by the very 
early artists with much naiveté, and in the later 
examples with infinite beauty and sentiment; and, 
which is curious, it has been idealized into a devo- 
tional subject, and treated apart. The action i 
in itself extremely simple. The husband and wife 
affectionately and joyfully embrace each other. In 
the background is seen a gate, richly ornamented. 
Groups of spectators and attendants are sometimes, 
not always, introduced. 

In the composition of Albert Durer nothing car 
be more homely, hearty, and conjugal. <A burly 
fat man, who looks on with a sort of wondering 
amusement in his face, appears to be a true and 
animated transcript from nature, as true as Ghir- 
landajo’s attendant figures — but how different ' 
what a contrast between the Florentine citizen and 
the German burgher! In the simpler composition 
by Taddeo Gaddi, St. Anna is attended by three 
women, among whom the maid Judith is conspicu 
ous, and behind Joachim is one of his shepherds.* 


* In two compartments of a small altar-piece (which probably 
tepresented in the centre the Nativity of the Virgin), I found on 


LEGEMD OF JOACHIM AND ANNA. 254 


The Franciscans, those enthusiastic defenders of 
the Immaculate Conception, were the authors of a. 
‘antastic idea, that the birth of the Virgin was not 
only immaculate, but altogether miraculous, and 
‘hat she owed her being to the joyful kiss which 
Joachim gave his wife when they met at the gate. 
Of course the Church gave no countenance to this 
strange poetical fiction, but it certainly modified 
some of the representations; for example, there is 
a picture by Vittore Carpaccio, wherein St. Joa- 
chim and Anna tenderly embrace. On one side 
stands St. Louis of Toulouse as bishop; on the 
other St. Ursula with her standard, whose presence 
turns the incident into a religious mystery. In an- 
other picture, painted by Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, we 
have a still more singular and altogether mystical 
treatment. In the centre St. Joachim and St. An- 
na embrace; behind St. Joachim stands St. Joseph 
with his lily wand and a’book; behind St. Anna, 
the Virgin Mary (thus represented as existing be- 
fore she was born *), and beyond her St. Laurence; 
in the corner is seen the head of the votary, a Ser- 
vite monk; above all, the Padre Eterno holds an 
open book with the Alpha and Omega. This sin- 
gular picture was dedicated and placed over the 
high altar of the Conception in the church of the 
Servi, who, under the title of Serviti di Maria 


‘me side the story of St. Joachim, on the other the story of St 
Anna. — Collection of Lord Northwick, No. 518, in us Cata 
gue. 

* Proy. viii 22,23. These texts a~e applied to the Madonns 


258 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


were dedicated to the especial service of the Vin 
gin Mary. (v. Legends of the Monastic Orders.) 


THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 


Ral. La Nascita della B. Vergine. Fr. La Naissance dela 9 
Vierge. Ger. Die Geburt Maria. 


Tuis is, of course, a very important subject. It 
is sometimes treated apart as a separate scene ; and 
a series of pictures dedicated to the honour of the 
Virgin, and comprising only a few of the most 
eventful scenes in her history, generally begins 
with her Nativity. The primitive treaument is 
Greek, and, though varied in the details and the 
sentiment, it has never deviated much from the 
original motif. 

St. Anna reclines on a couch covered with dra- 
pery, and a pillow under her head; two hand- 
maids sustain her; a third fans her, or presents 
refreshments; more in front a group of women are 
busied about the new-born child. It has been the 
custom, I know not on what authority, to introduce 
neighbours and friends, who come to congratulate 
the parents. The whole scene thus treated is sure 
to come home to the bosom of the observer. The 
nost important event in the life of 1 woman, her 
n.ost common and yet most awful experience, is 
here so treated as to be at once ennobled by its sig- 
nificance and endeared by its thoroughly domestie 
tharacter 


THe BIRTH OF THE VIRGIN. 259 


I will give some examples. 1. The first is by an 
unknown master of the Greco-Italian school, and 
referred by d’Agincourt to the thirteenth century, 
but it is evidently later, and quite in the style of 
the Gaddi. 

2. There is both dignity and simplicity in the 
fresco by Taddeo Gaddi. (Florence, Baroncell 
Chapel.) St. Anna is sitting up in bed; an at- 
tendant pours water over her hands. In front, 
two women are affectionately occupied with the 
child a lovely infant with a glory round its head. 
Three other attendants are at the foot of the bed. 

3. We have next in date, the elegant composi- 
tion by Ghirlandajo. As Joachim and Anna were 
“ exceedingly rich,” he has surrounded them with 
all the luxuries of life. The scene is a chamber 
richly decorated ; a frieze of angelic boys ornaments 
the alcove; St. Anna lies on a couch. Vasari says 
“certain women are ministering to her?’ but in 
Lasinio’s engraving they are not to be found. In 
front a female attendant pours water into a vase; 
two others seated hold the infant. A noble lady, 
habited in the elegant Florentine costume of the 
fifteenth century, enters with four others — all por- 
traits, and, as is usual with Ghirlandajo, looking on 
without taking any part in the action. The lady 
n front is traditionally said to be Ginevra Benci, 
telebrated for her beauty. 

4. The composition by Albert Durer * gives us 
an exact transcript of antique German life, quite 

* Ja the set of wood-cu‘s of the ‘‘ Life of the Virgin Mary.’’ 


260 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


wonderful for the homely truth of the delinea- 
tion, but equally without the simplicity of a scrip. 
tural or the dignity of an historical scene. In an 
old-fashioned German chamber lies St. Anna in 
an old-fashioned canopied bedstead. Two women 
bring her a soup and something to drink, while 
the midwife, tired with her exertions, leans her 
head on the bedside and has sunk to sleep. A 
crowd of women fill up the foreground, one of 
whom attends to the new-born child; others, whe 
appear to have watched through the night, as 
we may suppose from the nearly extinguished 
candles, are intent on good cheer; they congrat- 
ulate each other; they eat, drink, and repose 
themselves. It would be merely a scene of Ger- 
man commérage, full of nature and reality, if 
an angel hovering above, and swinging a censer, 
did not remind us of the sacred importance of the 
incident represented. 

5. In the strongest possible contrast to the 
homely but animated conception of Albert Durer, 
is the grand fresco by Andrea del Sarto, in the 
church of the Nunziata at Florence. The inci- 
dents are nearly the same: we have St. Anna 
reclining in her bed and attended by her women}; 
the nurses waiting on the lovely new-born child, 
the visitors who enter to congratulate; but all, 
down to the handmaidens who bring refreshments, 
are noble and dignified, and draped in that mag- 
nificent taste which distinguished Andrea. Angels 
vweatter flowers from above and, which is very vu 


THE PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN. 263 


rommon, Joachim is seen, after the anxious night 

reposing on a couch. Nothing in fresco can exceed 
the harmony and brilliancy of the colouring, and 
the softness of the execution. It appeared to me a 
masterpiece as a picture. Like Ghirlandajo, An- 
drea has introduced portraits; and in the Florentine 
iady who stands in the foreground we recognize the 
features of his worthless wife Lucrezia, the original 
model of so many of his female figures that the igno- 
ble beauty of her face has become quite familiar. 


THE PRESENTATION OF THE ViRGIN. 


Ital. La Presentazione, ove nostra Signora piccioletta sale i gradi 
del Tempio. Ger. Joachim und Anna weihen ihre Tochter 
Maria im Tempel. Die Vorstellung der Jungfrau im Tempe 
Nov. 21. 


In the interval between the birth of Mary and 
her consecration in the temple, there is no inci- 
dent which I can remember as being important or 
popular as a subject of art. 

It is recorded with what tenderness her mother 
Anna watched over her, “how she made of her 
bedchamber a holy place, allowing nothing that 
was common or unclean to enter in;” and called 
to her “certain daughters of Israel, pure and gen- 
tle,” whom she appointed to attend on her. In 
some of the eariy miniature illustrations of the 
Dffices of the Virgin, St. Anna thus ministers to 
wer child; for instance, in a beautiful Greek MS. 
m the Vatican, she is tenderly putting her into a 


262 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


little bed or cradle and covering her up. (lt is 
engraved in d’Agincourt.) 

It is not said anywhere that St. Anna instructed 
her daughter. It has even been regarded as un- 
orthodox to suppose that the Virgin, enriched from 
her birth, and before her birth, with all the gifts of 
the Holy Spirit, required instruction from any one. 
Nevertheless, the subject of the “ Education of the 
Virgin ” has been often represented in later times. 
There is a beautiful example by Murillo; while 
Anna teaches her child to read, angels hover over 
them with wreaths of roses. (Madrid Gal.) An- 
other by Rubens, in which, as it is said, he repre- 
sented his young wife, Helena Forman. (Musée, 
Antwerp.) There is also a picture in which St. 
Anna ministers to her daughter, and is intent 
on braiding and adorning her long golden hair, 
while the angels look on with devout admiration. 
(Vienna, Lichtenstein Gal.) In all these exam- 
ples Mary is represented as a girl of ten or twelve 
years old. Now, as the legend expressly relates 
that she was three years old when she became an 
inmate of the temple, such representations must be 
considered as incorrect. 


The narrative thus proceeds : — 

‘¢ And when the child was three years old, Joa- 
ehim said, ‘Let us invite the daughters of Israel, 
and they shall take each a taper or a lamp, 
and attend on her, that the child may not turn 
vack from the temple of the Lord.’ And being 


THE PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN. 268 


some to the temple, they placed her on the first 
step, and she ascended alone all the steps to the 
altar: and the high priest received her there, 
kissed her, and blessed her, saying, ‘Mary, the 
Lord hath magnified thy name to all generations, 
and in thee shall be made known the redemption 
of the children of Israel.’ And being placed be- 
fore the altar, she danced with her feet, so that all 
the house of Israel rejoiced with her, and loved 
her. Then her parents returned home, blessing 
God because the maiden had not turned back from 
the temple.” 


Such is the incident, which, in artistic represen- 
tation, is sometimes styled the “ Dedication,” but 
more generally “THz PRESENTATION OF THE 
VIRGIN.” 

It is a subject of great importance, not only as a 
principal incident in a series of the Life of the 
Virgin, but because this consecration of Mary to 
the service of the temple being taken in a general 
sense, it has often been given in a separate form, 
particularly for the nunneries. Hence it has hap- 
pened that we find “ The Presentation of the Vir 
gin” among some of the most precious examples of 
ancient and modern art. 

The motif does not vary. The child Mary, 
sometimes in a blue, but oftener in a white vesture, 
with long golden hair, ascends the steps whick 
lead to the porch of the temple, which steps are 
always fifteen in number. She ougit to be an in 


264 ‘LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


fant uf three years of age; but in many pictures 
she is represented older, veiled, and with a taper 
in her hand instead of a lamp, like a young nun 
but this is a fault. The “ fifteen steps” rest on a 
passage in Josephus, who says, “ between the wali 
which separated the men from the women, and the 
great porch of the temple, were fifteen steps;” 
and these are the steps which Mary is supposed te 
ascend. 

1. It is sometimes treated with great simplicity ; 
for instance, in the bas-relief by Andrea Orcagna, 
there are only three principal figures — the Virgin 
in the centre (too old, however), and Joachim and 
Anna stand on each side. (Florence, Or San 
Michele.) 

2. In the fresco by Taddeo Gaddi we have the 
same artless grace, the same dramatic grouping, 
and the same faults of drawing and perspective as 
in the other compartments of the series. (Flor- 
ence, Baroncelli Chapel.) 

3. The scene is represented by Ghirlandajo with 
his usual luxury of accessories and accompani- 
ments. (Florence, S. Maria Novella.) The lo- 
cality is the court of the temple; on the right a 
magnificent porch; the Virgin, a young girl of 
about nine or ten years old, is seen ascending the 
steps with a book in her hand ; the priest stretches 
out his arms to receive her; behind him is another 
priest ; and “the young virgins who were to be her 
sompanions” are advancing joyously to receive 
ner. (Adducentur Regi Virgines post eam. Ps 


THE PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN. 265 


xlv.) At the foot of the steps are St. Anna and 
St. Joachim, and farther off a group of women and 
spectators, who watch the event in attitudes of 
thanksgiving and joyful sympathy. Two vener- 
ble, grand-looking Jews, and two beautiful boys 
fill the foreground ; and the figure of the pilgrim 
resting on the steps is memorable in art as one of 
the earliest examples of an undraped figure, accu- 
rately and gracefully drawn. The whole composi- 
tion is full of life and character, and that sort of 
elegance peculiar to Ghirlandajo. 

4. In the composition of Albert Durer we see 
the entrance of the temple on the left, and the 
vhid Mary with flowing hair ascending the steps ; 
behind her stand her parents and other personages, 
and in front are venders of provisions, doves, &c., 
which are brought as offerings. 

5. The scene, as given by Carpaccio, appears to 
me exceedingly graceful. The perfectly childish fig- 
are of Mary with her light flowing tresses, the grace 
with which she kneels on the steps, and the disposi- 
tion of the attendant figures, are all beautifully con- 
eeived. Conspicuous in front is a page holding a 
unicorn, the ancient emblem of chastity, and often 
introduced significantly into pictures of the Virgin. 
(Venice Academy.) 

6. But the most celebrated example is the Pres- 
entation by Titian, in the academy at Venice, orig- 
inally painted for the church oi the brotherhood of 
vharity (Scuola della Carita), and still to be seen 
there — the Carita being now the academy of art. 


266 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


In the general arrangement, Titian seems to have 
deen indebted to Carpaccio; but all that is simple 
and poetical in the latter becomes in Titian’s ver- 
sion sumptuous and dramatic. Here Mary does 
not kneel, but, holding up her light-blue drapery, 
ascends the steps with childish grace and alacrity. 
The number of portrait-heads adds to the value 
and interest of the picture. Titian himself’ is look- 
ing up, and near him stands his friend, Andrea de’ 
Franceschi, grand-chancellor of Venice,* robed as a 
Cavaliero di San Marco. In the fine bearded head 
of the priest, who stands behind the high-priest, we 
may recognize, I think, the likeness of Cardinal 
Bembo. In the foreground, instead of the poetical 
symbol of the unicorn, we have an old woman sell- 
ing eggs and fowls, as in Albert Durer’s print, 
which must have been well known to Titian. Al- 
bert Durer published his Life of the Virgin in 
1520, and Titian painted his picture about 1550. 
(Venice Academy.) 


From the life of the Virgin in the temple, we 
have several beautiful pictures. As she was to be 
placed before women as an example of every vir- 
tue, so she was skilled in all feminine accomplish- 
ments; she was as studious, as learned, as wise, as 
the was industrious, chaste, and temperate. 


*« “ Amorevolissimo del Pittore,” says Ridolfi. Itis the same 
person whom Titian introduced, with himself, in the fine picture 
« Windsor; there, by a truly unpardonable mistake, called 
“Titian and Aretino ” 


THE VIRGIN IN THE TEMPLE. 267 


She is seen surrounded by her young compan- 
ions, the maidens who were brought up in the tem- 
ple with her, in a picture by Agnolo Gaddi. (Flor- 
ence, Carmine.) She is instructing her compan. 
ions, in a charming picture by Luini: here she 
appears as a girl of seven or eight years old, seated 
on a sort of throne, dressed in a simple light-blue 
tunic, with long golden hair; while the children 
around her look up and listen with devout faces. 
(Milan, Brera.) 


Some other scenes of her early life, which, in the 
Protevangelion, are placed after her marriage with 
Joseph, in pictures usually precede it. Thus, she 
is chosen by lot to spin the fine purple for the tem- 
ple, to weave and embroider it. Didron mentions 
a fine antique tapestry at Rheims, in which Mary 
is seated at her embroidery, while two unicorns 
crouching on each side look up in her face. 


I remember a fine drawing, in which the Virgir 
is seated at a large tapestry frame. Behind her 
are two maidens, one of whom is reading; the 
sther, holding a distaff, lays her hand on the shoul- 
der of the Virgin, as if about to speak. ‘The scene 
represents the interior of the temple with rich ar- 
chitecture. (Vienna, Col. of Archduke Charles.) 

In a small but very pretty picture by Guido, the 
Virgin, as a young girl, sits embroidering a yellow 
robe. (Lord Ellesmere’s Gal.) She is attended 
vy four angels, one of whom draws aside a curtain 


268 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


It is also related, that among the companions of 
Mary in the temple was Anna the prophetess ; and 
that this aged and holy woman, knowing by inspr- 
ration of the Holy Spirit the peculiar grace vouch- 
safed to Mary, and her high destiny, beheld her 
with equal love and veneration ; and, notwithstand- 
ing the disparity of age, they become true and dear 
friends. 

In an old illumination, the Virgin is seated spin- 
ning, with an angel by her side. (Office of the 


Pant) 


Virgin, 1408. Oxford, Bodleian.) 


It is recorded that the angels daily ministered to 
her, and fed her with celestial food. Hence in 
some early specimens of art an angel brings her a 
loaf of bread and a pitcher of water, —the bread 
of life and the water of life from Paradise. In this 
subject,’as we find it carved on the stalls of the 
cathedral of Amiens, Mary holds a book, and sey- 
eral books are ranged on a shelf in the back- 
ground: there is, besides, a clock, such as was in 
use in the fifteenth century, to indicate the studi- 
ous and regular life led by Mary in the temple. 


St. Evode, patriarch of Antioch, and St. Germa- 
nus, assert as an indubitable tradition of the Greek 
Church, that Mary had the privilege — never 
granted to one of her sex before or since —of 
entering the Holy of Holies, and praying before 
the ark of the covenant. Hence, in some of the 
wenes from her early life, the ark is placed in the 


THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. 269 


sackground. We must also bear in mind that the 
ark was one of the received types of her who bore 
the Logos within her bosom. 


In her fourteenth year, Mary was informed by 
the high priest that it was proper that she should 
be married; but she modestly replied that her 
parents had dedicated her to the service of the 
Lord, and that, therefore, she could not comply. 
But the high-priest, who had received a revelation 
from an angel concerning the destiny of Mary, 
informed her thereof, and she with all humility 
submitted herself to the divine will. This scene 
between Mary and the high-priest has been painted 
by Luini, and it is the only example with which 
I am acquainted. 

Pictures of the Virgin in her girlhood, reading 
intently the Book of Wisdom, while angels watch 
over her, are often of great beauty. 


THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. 


ital, 11 Sposalizio. Fr. Le Mariage de la Vierge. Ger. Die 
Trauung Maria. Jan. 28. 


Tus, as an artistic subject, is of great conse- 
quence, from the beauty and celebrity of some of 
the representations, which, however, are unintelli- 
gible without the accompanying legends. And it 
is worth remarking, that while the incident 1s 
avoided in early Greek art, it became very popular 

18 


270 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


with the Italian and German painters from the 
fourteenth century. 

In the East, the prevalence of the monastic 
spirit, from the fourth century, had brought mar- 
riage into disrepute; by many of the ascetic wri- 
ters of the West it was considered almost in the 
light of a necessary evil. This idea, that the pri- 
mal and most sacred ordinance of God and nature 
was incompatible with the sanctity and purity ac- 
zeptable to God, was the origin of the singular 
legends of the Marriage of the Virgin. One sees 
very clearly that, if possible, it would have been 
denied that Mary had ever been married at all ; 
but, as the testimony of the Gospel was too direct 
and absolute to be set aside, it became necessarv, 
in the narrative, to give to this distasteful marriage 
the most recondite motives, and in art, to surround 
it with the most poetical and even miraculous ac- 
cessories. 

But before we enter on the treatment of the sub- 
ject, it is necessary to say a few words on the char- 
acter of Joseph, wonderfully selected to be the hus- 
band and guardian of the consecrated mother of 
Christ, and foster-father of the Redeemer; and so 
often introduced into all the pictures which refer to 
the childhood of our Lord. 

From the Gospels we learn nothing of him but 
that he was of the tribe of Judah and the lineage 
of David; that he was a just man; that he followed 
the trade of a carpenter, and dwelt in the little city 
of Nazareth. We infer from his conduct towards 


TME MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. 273 


Mary, that he was a mild, and tender, and pure- 
hearted, as well as an upright man. Of his age 
and personal appearance nothing is said. ‘These 
are the points on which the Church has not 
decided, and on which artists, left to their own 
devices, and led by various opinicns, have differed 
considerably. 

The very early painters deemed it right to rep- 
resent Joseph as very old, almost decrepit with age, 
and supported by a crutch. According to some of 
the monkish authorities, he was a widower, and 
eighty-four years old when he was espoused to 
Mary. On the other hand, it was argued, that 
such a marriage would have been quite contrary 
to the custom of the Jews; and that to defend 
Mary, and to provide for her celestial Offspring, 
it was necessary that her husband should be a man 
of mature age, but still strong and robust, and able 
to work at his trade; and thus, with more proprie- 
ty and better taste, the later painters have repre- 
sented him. In the best Italian and Spanish pic- 
tures of the Holy Family, he is a man of about 
forty or fifty, with a mild, benevolent countenance, 
brown hair, and a short, curled beard: the crutch, 
or stick, however, is seldom omitted ; it became a 
conventional attribute. 

In the German pictures, Joseph is not only old, 
but appears almost in a state of dotage, like a lean, 
wrizkled mendicant, with a bald head, a white 
beard, a feeble frame, and a sleepy or stupid 
tountenance. ‘[hen, again, the later Italian paint 


972 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


ers have erred as much on the other side; far J 
have seen pictures in which St. Joseph is not only 
a young man not more than thirty, but bears a 
strong resemblance to the received heads of our 
Saviour. 

It is in the sixteenth century that we ‘irst find 
Joseph advanced to the dignity of a saint in his 
own right; and in the seventeenth he became very 
popular, especially in Spain, where St. Theresa 
had chosen him for her patron saint, and had 
placed her powerful order of the reformed Car- 
melites under his protection. Hence the number 
of pictures of that time, which represent Joseph, as 
the foster-father of Christ, carrying the Infant on 
his arm and caressing him, while in the other hand 
he bears a lily, to express the sanctity and purity 
of his relations with the Virgin. 


The legend of “the Marriage of Joseph and 
Mary” is thus given in the Protevangelion and the 
History of Joseph the Carpenter: — 


“When Mary was fourteen years old, the priest 
Zacharias (or Abiathar, as he is elsewhere called) 
inquired of the Lord concerning her, what was 
right to be done; and an angel came to him and 
said, ‘Go forth, and call together all the widowers 
among the people, and let each bring his rod (or 
wand) in his hand, and he to whom the Lord shal] 
thow a sign, let him be the husband of Mary. 
And Zacharias did as the angel commanded, and 


TH MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. 27% 


made proclamation accordingly. And Joseph the 
carpenter, a righteous man, throwing down his axe, 
and taking his staff in his hand, ran out with the 
rest. When he appeared before the priest, and 
presented his rod, lo! a dove issued out of it—a 
dove dazzling white as the snow,— and after set- 
tling on his head, flew towards heaven. Then the 
high priest said to him, ‘Thou art the person chosen 
to take the Virgin of the Lord, and to keep her for 
him.’ And Joseph was at first afraid, and drew 
back, but afterwards he took her home to his house, 
and said to her, ‘ Behold, I have taken thee from 
the temple of the Lord, and now I will leave thee 
m my house, for I must go and follow my trade of 
building. I will return to thee, and meanwhile the 
Lord be with thee and watch over thee.’ So Joseph 
left her, and Mary remained in her house.” 


There is nothing said of any marriage ceremony , 
some have even affirmed that Mary was only be- 
trothed to Joseph, but for conclusive reasons it re- 
mains an article of faith that she was married to 
him. 

I must mention here an old tradition cited by St. 
Jerome, and which has been used as a text by the 
painters. ‘The various suitors who aspired to the 
honour of marrying the consecrated “ Virgin of the 
Lord,” among whom was the son of the high-priest, 
deposited their wands in the temple over night,* 


* The suitors kneeling with their wands before the altar in the 
Yemple, is one of the series by Giotto in he Arena at Padua. 


$74 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


and next morning the rod of Joseph was found, 
like the rod of Aaron,to have budded forth inte 
leaves and flowers. The other suitors thereupon 
broke their wands in rage and despair; and one 
among them, a youth of noble lineage, whose name 
was Agabus, fled to Mount Carmel, and became 
an anchorite, that is to say, a Carmelite friar. 

According to the Abbé Orsini, who gives a long 
description of the espousals of Mary and Joseph, 
they returned after the marriage ceremony to Naz- 
areth, and dwelt in the house of St. Anna. 


Now, with regard to the representations, we find 
that many of the early painters, and particularly the 
Italians, have carefully attended to the fact, that, 
among the Jews, marriage was a civil contract, not 
a religious rite The ceremony takes place in the 
open air, in a garden, or in a landscape, or in front 
of the temple. Mary, as a meek and beautiful 
maiden of about fifteen, attended by a train of 
virgins, stands on the right; Joseph, behind whom 
are seen the disappointed suitors, is on the left. 
The priest joins their hands, or Joseph is in the act 
of placing the ring on the finger of the bride. This 
is the traditional arrangement from Giotto down te 
Raphael. In the series by Giotto, in the Arena at 
Padua, we have three scenes from the marriage le- 
gend. 1. St. Joseph and the other suitors present 
their wands to the high-priest. 2. They kneel be- 
fore the altar, on which their wands are deposited, 
waiting for the promised miracle. 38. The marriage 


THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. 278 


veremony. It takes place before an altar, in the 
interior of the temple. The Virgin, a most grace- 
ful figure, but rather too old, stands attended by her 
maidens; St. Joseph holds his wand with the flower 
and the holy Dove resting on it: one of the disap« 
pointed suitors is about to strike him; another 
breaks his wand against his knee. Taddeo Gaddi, 
Angelico, Ghirlandajo, Perugino, all followed this 
traditional conception of the subject, except that 
they omit the altar, and place the locality in the 
open air, or under a, portico. Among the reliss 
venerated in the Cathedral of Perugia, is the nup- 
tial ring of the blessed Virgin; and for the altar 
of the sacrament there, Perugino painted the ap- 
propriate subject of the Marriage of the Virgin.* 
Here the ceremony takes place under the portico 
of the temple, and Joseph of course puts the ring 
on her finger. It is a beautiful composition, which 
has been imitated more or less by the painters of 
the Perugino school, and often repeated in the gen- 
eral arrangement. 

But in this subject, Raphael, while yet a youth, 
excelled his master and all who had gone before 
him. Every one knows the famous “ SposALizi1o 
of the Brera.”+ It was painted by Raphael in his 
twenty-first year, for the church of S. Francesco, 
in Citté di Castello; and though he has closely fol- 
1owed the conception of his master, it is modified 


* It was carried off from the church by the French, sold ia 
Yrance, and is now to be seen in the Musée at Caen. 
+ At Milan. The fine engraving by Longhi is well known 


276 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


by that ethereal grace which even then distinguished 
him. Here Mary and Joseph stand in front of the 
temple, the high-priest joins their hands, and Jo- 
seph places the ring on the finger of the bride 
he is a man of about thirty, and holds his wand, 
which has blossomed into a lily, but there is no Dove 
upon it. Behind Mary is a group of the virgins of 
the temple; behind Joseph the group of disap 
pointed suitors ; one of whom, in the act of break- 
ing his wand against his knee, a singularly graceful 
figure, seen more in front and richly dressed, is 
perhaps the despairing youth mentioned in the 
legend.* With something of the formality of the 
elder schools, the figures are noble and dignified ; 
the countenances of the principal personages have 
a characteristic refinement and beauty, and a soft, 
tender, enthusiastic melancholy, which lends a pe- 
culiar and appropriate charm to the subject. In 
fact, the whole scene is here idealized; it is like a 
lyric poem. (Kugler’s Handbook, 2d edit.) 

In Ghirlandajo’s composition (Florence, S. Maria 
Novella), Joseph is an old man with a bald head; 
the architecture is splendid; the accessory figures, 
as is usual with Ghirlandajo, are numerous and full 
of grace. In the background are musicians play- 
ing on the pipe and tabor, an incident which I do 
not recollect to have seen in other pictures. 

The Sposalizio by Girolamo da Cotignola (Bo- 
logna Gal.), painted for the church of St. Joseph, is 


* In the series by Giotto at Padua, we have the youth break 
eg his wand across his knee. 


THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. 277 


& eated quite in a mystical style. Mary and Joseph 
stand before an altar, on the steps of which are 
seated, on one side a prophet, on the other a sibyl. 


By the German painters the scene is represented 
with a characteristic homely neglect of all historic 
propriety. The temple is a Gothic church; the 
altar has a Gothic altar-piece ; Joseph looks like an 
old burgher arrayed in furs and an embroidered 
gown; and the Virgin is richly dressed in the cos- 
tume of the fifteenth century. The suitors are 
often knights and cavaliers with spurs and tight 
hose. 


It is not said anywhere that St. Anna and St. 
Joachim were present at the marriage of their 
laughter; hence they are supposed to have been 
dead before it took place. This has not prevented 
some of the old German artists from introducing 
them, because, according to their ideas of domestic 
propriety, they ought to have been present. 


I observe that the later painters who treated the 
subject, Rubens and Poussin for instance, omit the 
disappointed suitors. 


After the marriage, or betrothal, Joseph con 
ducts his wife to his house. The group of the re- 
turning procession has been beautifully treated in 
Giotto’s series at Padua; * still more beautifully by 

* Cappella dell’ Arena, engraved for the Arundel Society. 


Bh LEGENDS OF “HE MADONNA. 


Ludi in the fragment of fresco now in the Brera at 
Milan. tere Joseph and Mary walk together hand 
in hand. He looks at her, just touching her fingers 
witlr an air of tender veneration ; she looks down, 
serenery modest. Thus they return together to 
their humble home ; and with this scene closes the 
first part ot the life of the Virgin Mary. 


HISTORICAL SUBJECTS. 
eee 


PART IL. 


YHE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN MARY FROM 
THE ANNUNCIATION TO THE RE- 
TURN FROM EGYPT. 


1. THE ANNUNCIATION. 2. THE SALUTATION 
OF ELIZABETH. 8. THE JOURNEY TO BETHLE= 
HEM. 4. THE NATIVITY. 5. THE ADORATION 
OF THE SHEPHERDS. 6 THE ADORATION OF 
THE MAGI. 7%. THE PRESENTATION IN THE 
TEMPLE. 8. THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 9. THE 
RIPOSO. 10. THE RETURN FROM EGYPT. 


THE ANNUNCIATION. 


Ital. L’? Annunciazione. La B. Vergine Annunziata. Fy. L’An- 
nonciation. La Salutation Angélique. Ger. Die Verkiindi 
gung. Der Englische Gruss. March 26. 


THE second part of the life of the Virgin Mary 
begins with the Annunciation and ends with the 
Crucifixion, comprising all those scriptural inci- 
dents which connect her history with that of her 
divine Son. 

But to the scenes narrated in the Gospels the 
yainters did not confine themselves. Not only 


280 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


were the simple scripture histories coloured 
throughout by the predominant and enthusiastic 
veneration paid to the Virgin —till the life of 
Christ was absolutely merged in that of His 
mother, and its various incidents became “ the 
seven joys and the seven sorrows of Mary,” — but 
we find the artistic representations of her life curi- 
ously embroidered and variegated by the introdue- 
tion of traditional and apocryphal circumstances, in 
most cases sanctioned by the Church authorities of 
the time. However doubtful or repulsive some of 
these scenes and incidents, we cannot call them 
absolutely unmeaning or absurd; on the contrary, 
what was supposed grew up very naturally, in the 
vivid and excited imaginations of the people, out 
of what was recorded ; nor did they distinguish ac- 
curately between what they were allowed and what 
they were commanded to believe. Neither can it 
be denied that the traditional incidents — those at 
least which we find artistically treated — are often 
singularly beautiful, poetical, and instructive. In 
the hands of the great religious artists, who worked 
in their vocation with faith and simplicity, objects 
and scenes the most familiar and commonplace 
became sanctified and glorified by association with 
what we deem most holy and most venerable. In 
the hands of the later painters the result was just 
the reverse — what was most spiritual, most hal- 
lowed, most elevated, became secularized, material- 
ized, and shockingly degraded. 

No subject has been more profoundly felt and 


THE ANNUNCIATION. 281 


more beautifully handled by the old painters, nor 
more vilely mishandled by the moderns, than the 
ANNUNCIATION, of all the scenes in the life of 
Mary the most important and the most commonly 
met with. Considered merely as an artistic sub- 
ject, it is surely eminently beautiful: it places be- 
fore us the two most graceful forms which the hand 
of man was ever called on to delineate ;— the 
winged spirit fresh from paradise ; the woman not 
less pure, and even more highly blessed — the 
chosen vessel of redemption, and the personifica- 
tion of all female loveliness, all female excellence, 
all wisdom, and all purity. 


We find the Annunciation, like many other 
scriptural incidents, treated in two ways—as a 
mystery, and as an event. Taken in the former 
sense, it became the expressive symbol of a mo- 
mentous article of faith, The Incarnation of the 
Deity. ‘Taken in the latter sense, it represented 
the announcement of salvation to mankind, through 
the direct interposition of miraculous power. In 
one sense or the other, it enters into every scheme 
of ecclesiastical decoration ; but chiefly it is set be- 
fere us as a great and awful mystery, of which the 
two figures of Gabriel, the angel-messenger, and 
Mary the “ highly-favoured,” placed in relation te 
each other, became the universally accepted sym 
bol, rather than the representation. 





82 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA, 


THE ANNUNCIATION AS A MYSTERY. 


Considering the importance given to the Annun 
ciation in its mystical sense, it is strange that wa 
do not find it among the very ancient symbolical 
subjects adopted in the first ages of Christian art. 
It does not appear on the sarcophagi, nor in the 
early Greek carvings and diptychs, nor in the early 
mosaics — except once, and then as a part of the 
history of Christ, not as a symbol; nor can we 
trace the mystical treatment of this subject higher 
than the eleventh century, when it first appears in 
the Gothic sculpture and stained glass. In the 
thirteenth, and thenceforward, the Annunciation 
appears before us, as the expression in form of a 
theological dogma, everywhere conspicuous. It 
becanie a primal element in every combination of 
sacred representations; the corner-stone, as it were, 
of every architectural system of religious decora- 
tion. It formed a part of every altar-piece, either 
in sculpture or painting. Sometimes the Virgin - 
stands on one side of the altar, the angel on the 
other, carved in marble or alabaster, or of wood 
richly painted and gilt ; or even, as I have seen in 
some instances, of solid silver. Not seldom, we find 
the two figures placed in niches against the pillars, 
or on pedestals at the entrance of the choir. It 
was not necessary, when thus symbolically treated, 
to place the two figures m proximity to signify 


THE ANNUNCIATION AS A MYSTERY. 288 


their relation to each other; they are often divides 
by the whole breadth of the chancel. 

Whatever the subject of: the altar-piece — 
whether the Nativity, or the Enthroned Madon- 
na, or the Coronation, or the Crucifixion, or the 
Last Supper,—the Annunciation almost invaria- 
bly formed part of the decoration, inserted either 
into the spandrels of the arches above, or in the 
predella below; or, which is very common, painted 
or carved on the doors of a tabernacle or tripty- 
chon. ! 

If the figures are full-length, a certain symmetry 
being required, they are either both standing or both 
kneeling ; it is only in later times that the Virgin 
sits, and the angel kneels. When disposed in cir- 
cles or semicircles, they are often merely busts, or 
half-length figures, separated perhaps by a frame- 
work of tracery, or set on each side of the princi- 
pal subject, whatever that may be. Hence it is 
that we so often find in galleries and collections, 
pictures of the Annunciation in two separate parts, 
the angel in one frame, the Virgin in another; and 
perhaps the two pictures, thus disunited, may have 
found their way into different countries and differ- 
ent collections, — the Virgin being in Italy and the 
angel in England. 

Sometimes the Annunciation — still as a mysti- 
eal subject — forms an altar-piece of itself. In 
many Roman Catholic churcnes there is a chape} 
or an altar dedicated expressly to the mystery of 
the Annunciation, the subject forming of course 


284 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


the principal decoration. At Florence there is a 
church — one of the most splendid and interesting 
of its many beautiful edifices — dedicated to the 
Annunciation, or rather to the Virgin in her espe- 
cial character and dignity, as the Instrument of the 
Incarnation, and thence styled the church della 
Santissima Nunziata. The fine mosaic of the An- 
nunciation by Ghirlandajo is placed over the prin- 
cipal entrance. Of this church, and of the order 
of the Servi, to whom it belongs, I have already 
spoken at length. Here, in the first chapel on the 
left, as we enter, is to be found the miraculous pic- 
ture of the Annunciation, formerly held in such 
veneration, not merely by all Florence, but all Chris- 
tendom : — found, but not seen — for it is still con- 
cealed from profane eyes, and exhibited to the 
devout only on great occasions. The name of 
the painter is disputed ; but, according to tradi- 
tion, it is the work of a certain Bartolomeo; who, 
while he sat meditating on the various excellences 
and perfections of our Lady, and most especially 
on her divine beauty, and thinking, with humility, 
how inadequate were his own powers to represent 
her worthily, fell asleep; and on awaking, found 
the head of the Virgin had been wondrously com- 
pleted, either by the hand of an angel, or by that 
of St. Luke, who had descended from heaven on 
purpose.. Though this curious relic has been fre- 
quently restored, no one has presumed to touch 
the features of the Virgin, which are, I am told — 
for I have never been blessed with a sight of the 


THE ANNUNCIATIVUN AS A MYSTERY. 285 


priginal picture-— marvellously sweet and beaati- 
ful. It is concealed by a veil, on which is painted 
a fine head of the Redeemer, by Andrea del Sar- 
to; and forty-two lamps of silver burn continually 
round it. There is a copy in the Pitti Palace, by 
Carlo Dolce. 

it is evident that the Annunciation, as a mystery, 
admits of a style of treatment which would not be 
allowable in the representation of an event. In 
the former case, the artist is emancipated from all 
considerations of locality or circumstance. Wheth- 
er the background be of gold, or of blue, or star- 
bespangled sky,— a mere curtain, or a temple of 
gorgeous architecture; whether the accessories be 
the most simple or the most elaborate, the most real 
or the most ideal; all this is of little moment, and 
might be left tothe imagination of the artist, or might 
be modified according to the conditions imposed by 
the purpose of the representation and the material 
employed, so long as the chief object is fulfilled — 
the significant expression of an abstract dogma, 
appealing to the faith, not to the senses or the un- 
derstanding, of the observer. 

To this class, then, belong all those church 
mages and pictures of the Annunciation, either 
confined to the two personages, with just sufficient 
of attitude and expression to place them in relation 
to each other, or with such accompaniments as 
served to carry out the mystical idea, still keeping 
it as far as possible removed from the region of 
earthly possibilities. 


19 


286 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


In the fifteenth century — that age of mysticism 
— we find the Annunciation not merely treated as 
an abstract religious emblem, but as a sort of di- 
vine allegory or poem, which in old French and 
Flemish art is clothed in the quaintest, the most 
curious forms. I recollect going into a church at 
Breslau, and finding over one of the altars a most 
elaborate carving in wood of the Annunciation, 
Mary is seated within a Gothic porch of open 
tracery work; a unicorn takes refuge in her bos- 
om; outside, a kneeling angel winds a hunting 
horn; three or four dogs are crouching near him. 
I looked and wondered. At first I could make noth- 
ing of this singular allegory ; but afterwards found 
the explanation in a learned French work on the 
“Stalles d’Amiens.” I give the original passage, 
for it will assist the reader to the comprehension of 
many curious works of art; but I do not venture to 
translate it. 

“ On sait qu’au Xvi? siécle, le mystere de I’In- 
carnation étoit souvent représenté par une allégorie 
ainsi concue: Une licorne se réfugiant au sein d’une 
vierge pure, quatre lévriers la pressant d’une course 
rapide, un veneur ailé sonnant de la trompette. La 
science de la zoologie mystique du temps aide & en 
trouver l’explication ; le fabuleux animal dont l’u- 
nique corne ne blessait que pour purger de tout ve- 
nin l’endroit du corps qu’elle avoit touché, figuroit 
Jésus Christ, médecin et sauveur des 4mes; on 
donnait aux lévriers agiles les noms de Misericor 
dia, Veritas, Justitia, Pax, les quatre raisons qu 


THE ANNUNCIATION AS A MYSTERY. 287 


pnt pressé le Verbe éternel de sortir de son repos 
mais comme c’étoit par la Vierge Marie qu’il avoit 
voulu descendre parmi les hommes et se metire en 
leur puissance, on croyoit ne pouvoir mieux faire 
que de choisir dans la fable, le fait d’une pucelle 
pouvant seule servir de piége & la licorne, en l’atti- 
rant par le charme et le parfum de son sein virgr 
nal yu’elle lui présentoit ; enfin l’ange Gabriel con- 
courant au mystere étoit bien reconnoissable sous les 
traits du veneur ailé langant les lévriers et em- 
bouchant la trompette.” 


It appears that this was an accepted religious 
allegory, as familiar in the sixteenth century as 
those of Spenser’s “ Fairy Queen” or the “ Pil- ° 
grim’s Progress” are to us. I have since found ‘t 
frequently reproduced in the old French and Ger- 
man prints: there is a specimen in the British Mu- 
seum; and there is a picture similarly treated in 
the Musée at Amiens. I have never seen it in an 
Italian picture or print; unless a print after Guido, 
wherein a beautiful maiden is seated under a tree, 
and a unicorn has sought refuge in her lap, 
be intended to convey the same far-fetched alle: 
gory. 

Very common, however, in Italian art, is a less 
fantastic, but still wholly poetical version of the 
Annunciation, representing, in fact, not the An- 
nunciation, but the Invarnation. Thus, in a pic- 
ture by Giovanni Sanzio (the father of Rapha- 
el) (Brera, Milan), Marv stands under a splendid 


288 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


portico; she appears as if just risen from her seat 
her hands are meekly folded over her bosom; her 
head declined. ‘The angel kneels outside the por- 
tico, holding forth his lily; while above, in the 
heavens, the Padre Eterno sends forth the Re- 
deemer, who, in form of the infant Christ bearing 
his cross, floats downwards towards the earth, pre- 
ceded by the mystic Dove. This manner of repre- _ 
senting the Incarnation is strongly disapproved of 
by the Abbé Méry (v. Théologie des Peintres), as 
not only an error, but a heresy: yet it was fre- 
quently repeated in the sixteenth century. 

The Annunciation is also a mystery when cer- 
tain emblems are introduced conveying a certain 
signification ; as when Mary is seated on a throne, 
wearing a radiant crown of mingled gems and flow- 
ers, and receives the message of the angel with all 
the majesty that could be expressed by the painter ; 
or is seated in a garden enclosed by a hedge of 
roses (the Hortus clausus or conclusus of the 
Canticles): or where the angel holds in his 
hands the sealed book, as in the famous altar- 
piece at Cologne. 

In a picture by Simone Memmi, the (irgin 
seated on a Gothic throne receives, as the higher 
and superior being, yet with a shrinking timidity 
the salutation of the angel, wko comes as the mess, 
senger of peace, olive-crowned, and bearing a 
branch of olive in his hand. (Florence Gal.) 
This poetical version is very characteristic of the 
early Siena school, in which we often find a cer 


THE ANNUNCIATION AS A MYSTERY 2898 


tam fanciful and original way of treating well- 
known subjects. Taddeo Bartoli, another Sienese, 
and Martin Schoen, the most poetical of the early 
Germans, also adopted the olive-symbol; and we 
find it also in the tabernacle of King Réné, already 
described. 

The treatment is clearly devotional and ideal 
where attendant saints and votaries stand or kneel 
around, contemplating with devout gratitude o1 
ecstatic wonder the divine mystery. Thus, in a 
remarkable and most beautiful picture by Fra Bar. 
toloineo, the Virgin is seated on her throne; the 
angel descends from on high bearing his lily; 
around the throne attend St. John the Baptist and 
St. Francis, St. Jerome, St. Paul, and St. Marga- 
ret. (Bologna Gal.) Again, in a very beautiful 
picture by Francia, Mary stands in the midst of an 
open landscape ; her hands, folded over each other, 
press to her bosom a book closed and clasped: St. 
Jerome stands on the right, John the Baptist on 
the left ; both look up with a devout expression to 
the angel descending from above. In both these 
examples Mary is very nobly and expressively rep- 
resented as the chosen and predestined vehicle of 
human redemption. It is not here the Annuncia- 
tion, but the “ Sacratissina Annunziata” we see 
vefore us. In a curious picture by Francesco da 
Cotignola, Mary stands on a sculptured pedestal, in 
the midst of an architectural decoration of many- 
coloured marbles, most elaborately painted : through 
am opening is seen a distant landscape, and the 


290 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


blue sky ; on her right stands St. John the Baptist, 
pointing upwards; on her left St. Francis, ador. 
ing; the votary kneels in front. (Berlin Gal.) 
Votive pictures of the Annunciation were fre- 
quently expressive offerings from those who de- 
sired, or those who had received, the blessing of 
an heir; and this I take to be an instance. 

In the following example, the picture is votive in 
another sense, and altogether poetical. The Virgin 
Mary receives the message of the angel, as usual; 
but before her, at a little distance, kneels the Car- 
dinal Torrecremata, who presents three young 
girls, also kneeling, to one of whom the Virgin 
gives a purse of money. This curious and beauti- 
ful picture becomes intelligible, when we find that it 
was painted for a charitable community, instituted 
by Torrecremata, for educating and endowing poor 
orphan girls, and styled the “ Confraternita del? 
Annunziata.” * 

In the charming Annunciation by Angelico, the 
scene is in the cloister of his own convent of St. 
Mark. A Dominican (St. Peter Martyr) stands 
in the background with hands folded in prayer. 1 
might add many beautiful examples from Fra Bar 
tolomeo, and in sculpture from Benedetto Maiano, 
Luca della Robbia, and others, but have said 
enough to enable the observer to judge of the in- 
‘ention of the artist. The Annunciation by San- 
sovino among the bas-reliefs which cover the chape’ 
at Loretto is of great elegance. 


* Benozzo Gozzoli, in 8. Maria sopra Minerva, Rome. 


“HE ANNUNCIATION AS AN EVENT. 29) 


I must, however, notice one more picture. Ot 
six Annunciations painted by Rubens, five repre- 
sent the event; the sixth is one of his magnificent 
and most palpable allegories, all glowing with life 
and reality. Here Mary kneels on the summit of a 
flight of steps; a dove, encompassed by cherubim, 
hovers over her head. Before her kneels the celes- 
tial messenger ; behind him Moses and Aaron, with 
David and other patriarchal ancestors of Christ. In 
the clouds above is seen the heavenly Father; on 
his right are two female figures, Peace and Recon- 
ciliation ; on his left, angels bear the ark of the 
covenant. In the lower part of the picture, stand 
Isaiah and Jeremiah, with four sibyls:— thus con- 
necting the prophecies of the Old Testament, and 
the promises made to the Gentile nations through 
the sibyls, with the fulfilment of both in the mes- 
sage from on high. 


THE ANNUNCIATION AS AN EVENT. 


Had the Annunciation to Mary been merely 
mentioned as an awful and incomprehensible vis- 
ion, it would have been better to have adhered to 
the mystical style of treatment, or left it alone 
altogether; but the Scripture history, by giving 
the whole narration as a simple fact, a real event, 
left it free for representation as such; and, as 
such, the fancy of the artist was to be controlled 


892 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


and limited only by the words of Seripture ag 
tommonly understood and interpreted, and by 
those proprieties of time, place, and circumstance, 
which would be required in the representation of 
any other historical incident or action. 

When all the accompaniments show that noth- 
ing more was in the mind of the artist than the aina 
to exhibit an incident in the life of the Virgin, o 
an introduction to that of our Lord, the representa- 
tion is no longer mystical and devotional, but histor- 
ical. The story was to be told with all the fidelity, 
or at least all the likelihood, that was possible; and 
it is clear that, in this case, the subject admitted, 
and even required, a more dramatic treatment, 
with such accessories and accompaniments as 
might bring the scene within the sphere of the 
actual. In this sense it is not to be mistaken. 
Although the action is of itself so very simple, 
and the actors confined to two persons, it is as- 
tonishing to note the infinite variations of which 
this favourite theme has been found susceptible. 
Whether all these be equally appropriate and ~ 
laudable, is quite another question; and in how 
far the painters have truly interpreted the Scrip- 
tural narration, is now to be considered. 

And first, with regard to the time, which is not 
especially mentioned. It was presumed by the 
Fathers and early commentators on Scripture, that 
the Annunciation must have taken place in early 
spring-time, at eventide, soon after sunset, the hour 
unce consecrated as the “ Ave Maria,” as the beb 


THE ANNUNCIATION AS AN EVENT. 298 


which announces it is called the “ Angelus;” * but 
other authorities say that it was rather at midnight, 
because the nativity of our Lord took place at the 
corresponding hour in the following December. 
This we find exactly attended to by many of the 
old painters, and indicated either by the moon and 
stars in the sky, or by a taper or a lamp burning 
near. 


With regard to the locality, we are told by St. 
Luke that the angel Gabriel was sent from God, 
and that “he came in to Mary” (Luke i. 28), 
which seems to express that she was within her 
house. 

In describing the actual scene of the interview 
between the angel and Mary, the legendary story 
of the Virgin adheres very closely to the scriptural 
text. But it also relates, that Mary went forth at 
evening to draw water from the fountain; that she 
heard a voice which said, “ Hail thou that art full 
of grace!” and thereupon being troubled, she 
looked to the right and to the left, and seeing na 
one, returned to her house. and sat down to her 


* So Lord Byron :— 
‘6 Ave Maria! blessed be the hour ! 

The time, the clime, the spot, where I so oft 

Have felt that moment in its fullest power 
Sink o’er the earth so beautiful and soft, 

While swung the deep bell in the distant tower. 
Or the faint dying day-hymn stole aloft, 

And not a breath crept through the rosy air, 

And yet the forest leaves seem’d stirr'd with prayer ” 


294 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


work. (Protevangelion, ix. 7.) Had any exact 
attention been paid to oriental customs, Mary 
might have been working or reading or meditating 
on the roof of her house; but this has not suggest- 
ed itself in any instance that I can remember. We 
have, as the scene of the interview, an interior 
which is sometimes like an oratory, sometimes a 
portico with open arcades; but more generally a 
bedroom. The poverty of Joseph and Mary, and 
their humble condition in life, are sometimes at- 
tended to, but not always; for, according to one 
tradition, the house at Nazareth was that which 
Mary had inherited from her parents, Joachim 
and Anna, who were people of substance. Hence, 
the painters had an excuse for making the chamber 
richly furnished, the portico sustained by marble 
pillars, or decorated with sculpture. In the Ger- 
man and Flemish pictures, the artist, true to the 
national characteristic of naive and literal illustra- 
tion, gives us a German or a Gothic chamber, with 
a lattice window of small panes of glass, and a 
couch with pillows, or a comfortable four-post bed- 
stead, furnished with draperies, thus imparting to 
the whole scene an air of the most vivid homely 
reality. 

As for the accessories, the most usual, almost 
indispensable, is the pot of lilies, the symbolical 
Fleur de Marie, which I have already explained 
at length There is also a basket containing nee- 
dle work and implements of female industry, as 
wissors, &c., not merely to express Mary’s habitua, 


THE ANNUNCIATION AS AN EVENT. 295 


sadustry, but because it is related that when she 
returned to her house, “ she took the purple linen, 
and sat down to work it.” The work-basket is 
therefore seldom omitted. Sometimes a distaff lies 
at her feet, as in Raphael’s Annunciation. In 
old German pictures we have often a spinning- 
wheel. To these emblems of industry is often 
added a basket, or a dish, containing fruit; and 
near it a pitcher of water to express the temper- 
ance of the blessed Virgin. 

There is grace and meaning in the introduc 
tion of birds, always emblems of the spiritual. 
Titian places a tame partridge at the feet of Mary, 
which expresses her tenderness; but the introduc- 
tion of a cat, as in Barroccio’s picture, is insuf- 
ferable. 


The archangel Gabriel, “ one of those who stand 
continually in the presence of God,” having re- 
ceived his mission, descends to earth. In the very 
earliest representation of the Annunciation, as an 
event (Mosaic, S. Maria Maggiore), we have this 
descent of the winged spirit from on high; and I 
have seen other instances. There is a small and 
beautiful sketch by Garofalo (Alton Towers), in 
which, from amidst a flood of light, and a choir of 
celestial spirits, such as Milton describes as adoring 
the “divine sacrifice ” proclaimed for sinful man 
{Par. Lost, b. iii.), the archangel spreads his lucid 
wings, and seems just about to take his flight te 
Nazareth. He was accompanied, says the Italian 


296 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


legend, by a train of lower angels, anxious to be 
hold and reverence their Queen; these remained, 
however, at the door, or “before the gate,” while 
Gabriel entered. 

The old German masters are fond of represent- 
ing him as entering by a door in the background 5 
while the serene Virgin, seated in front, seems 
aware of his presence without seeing him. 

In some of the old pictures, he comes in flying 
from above, or he is upborne by an effulgent cloud, 
and surrounded by a glory which lights the whole 
picture,—a really celestial messenger, as in a 
fresco by Spinello Aretino. In others, he comes 
gliding in, “smooth sliding without step;” some- 
times he enters like a heavenly ambassador, and 
little angels hold up his train. In a picture by 
Tintoretto, he comes rushing in as upon a whirl- 
wind, followed by a legion of lesser angels; while 
on the outside of the building, Joseph the carpen- 
ter is seen quietly at his work. (Venice, School 
of S. Rocco.) 

But, whether walking or flying, Gabriel bears, 
of course, the conventional angelic form, that of 
the human creature, winged, beautiful, and radiant 
with eternal youth, yet with a grave and serious 
mien. In the later pictures, the Grapery given to 
the angel is offensively scanty; his sandals, and 
bare arms, and fluttering robe, too much &@ Van 
tique ; he comes in the attitude of a flying Mercury 
or a dancer in a ballet. But in the early Italian 
eictures his dress is arranged with a kind of solemg 


THE ANNUNCIATION. 29% 


propriety: it is that of an acolyte, white and full, 
and falling in large folds over his arms, and in gen- 
eral concealing his feet. In the German pictures, 
he often wears the priestly robe, richly embroid- 
ered, and clasped in front by a jewel. His ambro- 
sial curls fall over this cope in “ hyacinthine flow.” 
The wings are essential, and never omitted. They 
are white, or many-coloured, eyed like the pea- 
cock’s train, or bedropped with gold. He usually 
bears the lily in his hand, but not always. Some- 
times it is the sceptre, the ancient attribute of 
a herald; and this has a scroll around it, with 
the words, “Ave Maria gratia plena!” The 
sceptre or wand is occasionally surmounted by a 
CTOSS. 

In general, the palm is given to the angel who 
announces the death of Mary. In one or two in- 
stances only I have seen the palm given to the 
angel Gabriel, as in a predella by Angelico; for 
which, however, the painter had the authority of 
Dante, or Dante some authority earlier still. He 
says of Gabriel, 


“ That he bore the palm 
Down unto Mary when the Son of God 
Vouchsafed to clothe him in terrestrial weeds.” 


The olive-bougu has a mystical sense wherever 
adopted: it is the symbol of peace on earth. 
Often the angel bears neither lily, nor sceptre, nor 
palm, nor olive. His hanas are folded on his 
bosom ; or, with one hand stretched forth, and the 


B98 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


other pointing upwards, he declares his mission 
from on high. 

In the old Greek pictures, and in the most an- 
cient Italian examples, the angel stands ; as in the 
picture by Cimabue, wherein the Greek model is 
very exactly followed. According to the Roman 
Catholic belief, Mary is Queen of heaven, and af 
angels — the superior being; consequently, there 
is propriety in making the angel deliver his mes- 
sage kneeling: but even according to the Protes- 
tant belief the attitude would not be unbecoming, 
for the angel, having uttered his salutation, might 
well prostrate himself as witness of the transcend 
ing miracle, and beneath the overshadowing pres: 
ence of the Holy Spirit. 

Now, as to the attitude and occupation of Mary 
at the moment the angel entered, authorities are 
not agreed. It is usual to exhibit her as kneeling 
in prayer, or reading with a large book open on a 
desk before her. St. Bernard says that she was 
studying the book of the prophet Isaiah, and as she 
recited the verse, “ Behold, a Virgin shall con- 
ceive, and bear a son,” she thought within her heart, 
in her great humility, “ How blessed the woman 
of whom these words are written! Would I might 
be but her handmaid to serve her, and allowed to 
kiss her feet!” — when, in the same instant, the 
wondrous vision burst upon her, and the holy 
prophecy was realized in herself. (Il perfette 
Legendario.) 

I think it is a manifest fault to disturb the sub 


THE ANNUNCIATION. 293 


hme tenor of the scene by representing Mary as 
starting up in alarm; for, in the first place, she 
was accustomed, as we have seen, to the perpetua! 
ministry of angels, who daily and hourly attended 
on her. It is, indeed, said that Mary was troubled ; 
but it was not the presence, but the “ saying” of 
the angel which troubled her — it was the question 
“ how this should be?” (Luke i. 29.) The atti- 
tude, therefore, which some painters have given to 
her, as if she had started from her seat, not only in 
terror, but in indignation, is altogether misplaced. 
A signal instance is the statue of the Virgin by 
Mocchi in the choir of the cathedral at Orvieto, so 
grand in itself, and yet so offensive as a devotional 
figure. Misplaced is also, I think, the sort of timid 
shrinking surprise which is the expression in some 
pictures. The moment is much too awful, the ex- 
pectance much too sublime, for any such human, 
girlish emotions. Ifthe painter intend to express 
the moment in which the angel appears and utters 
the salutation, “ Hail!” then Mary may be standing, 
and her looks directed towards him, as in a fine ma- 
jestic Annunciation of Andrea del Sarto. Standing 
was the antique attitude of prayer; so that if we 
suppose her to have been interrupted in her devo- 
tions, the attitude is still appropriate. But if that 
moment be chosen in which she expressed her sub- 
mission to the divine will, “‘ Behold the handmaid 
of the Lord! let it be unto me according to thy 
word!” then she might surely kneel with bowed 
nead, and folded hands, and ‘“ downcast eyes be- 


800 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


neath th’ almighty Dove.” No attitude could be 
too humble to express that response; and Dante 
has given us, as the most perfect illustration of the 
virtue of humility, the sentiment and attitude of 
Mary when submitting herself to the divine will 
(Purg. x., Cary’s Trans.) 
“The angel (who came down to earth 

With tidings of the peace to many years 

Wept for in vain, that op’d the heavenly gates 

From their long interdict) before us seem’d 

In a sweet act, so sculptur’d to the life, 

He look’d no silent image. One had sworn 

He had said ‘ Hail!’ for Soe was imag’d there, 

By whom the key did open to God’s love; 

And in her act as sensibly imprest 

That word, ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord,’ 

As figure seal’d on wax.” 


And very beautifully has Flaxman transferred the 
sculpture “divinely wrought upon the rock of mar- 
ble white” to earthly form. 


The presence of the Holy Spirit in the historical 
Annunciations is to be accounted for by the words 
of St. Luke, and the visible form of the Dove is 
tonventional and authorized. In many pictures, 
the celestial Dove enters by the open casement. 
Sometimes it seems to brood immediately over the 
head of the Virgin ; sometimes it hovers towards 
her bosom. As for the perpetual introduction of 
the emblem of the Padre Eterno, seen above the 
ky, under the usual half-figure of a kingly ancient 
man, surrounded by a glory of cherubim, and send 


THE ANNUNCIATION. 801 


mg forth upon a beam of light the immaculate 
Dove, there is nothing to be said but the usual ex- 
euse for the medieval artists, that certainly there 
was no conscious irreverence. The old painters, 
great as they were in art, lived in ignorant but 
zealous times— in times when faith was so fixed, 
so much a part of the life and soul, that it was not 
easily shocked or shaken ; as it was not founded in 
knowledge or reason, so nothing that startled the 
reason could impair it. Religion, which now 
speaks to us through words, then spoke to the 
people through visible forms universally accepted ; 
and, in the fine arts, we accept such forms accord- 
ing to the feeling which then existed in men’s 
minds, and which, in its sincerity, demands our re- 
spect, though now we might not, could not, tolerate 
the repetition. We must also remember that it was 
not in the ages of ignorance and faith that we find 
the grossest materialism in art. It was in the learned, 
half-pagan sixteenth and the polished seventeenth 
century, that this materialized theology became 
most offensive. Of all the artists who have sinned 
in the Annunciation — and they are many — Nico- 
lo Poussin is perhaps the worst. Yet he was a 
good, a pious man, as well as a learned and aecom. 
plished painter. A!l through the history of the art, 
the French show themselves as the most signal vio- 
lators of good taste, and wnat they have invented a 
word for — biens¢ance. They are worse than the 
old Germans; worse than the modern Spaniards 
— and that is saying much. 
20 


B02 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


In Raphael’s Annunciation, Mary is seated in a 
reclining attitude, leaning against the side of her 
eouch, and holding a book. The angel, whose atti- 
tude expresses a graceful empressement, kneels at 
some distance, holding the lily. 


Michael Angelo gives us a most majestic Virgin 
standing on the steps of a prie-Dieu, and turning 
with hands upraised towards the angel, who appears 
to have entered by the open door; his figure is 
most clumsy and material, and his attitude un- 
meaning and ungraceful. It is, I think, the only 
instance in which Michael Angelo has given wings 
to an angelic being: for here they could not be 
dispensed with. 

In a_ beautiful Annunciation by Johan Van 
Eyck (Munich Gal., Cabinet iii. 35), the Virgin 
kneels at a desk with a book before her. She has 
long fair hair, and a noble intellectual brow. Ga- 
briel, holding his sceptre, stands in the door-way. 
The Dove enters by the lattice. A bed is in the 
background, and in front a pot of lilies. In an- 
other Annunciation by Van Eyck, painted on the 
Ghent altar-piece, we have the mystic, not the his 
torical, representation, and a very beautiful effect 
is produced by clothing both the angel and Mary 
in robes of pure white. (Berlin Gal., 520, 521.) 

In an engraving after Rembrandt, the Virgin 
kneels by a fountain, and the angel kneels on the 
opposite side. ‘This seems to express the legends 
*y scene. 


THE VISITATION. 308 


These few observations on the general arrange- 
ment of the theme, whether mystical or historical, 
will, I hope, assist the observer in discriminating 
for himself. I must not venture further, for we 
have a wide range of subjects before us. 


THE VISITATION. 


Ytal. La Visitazione di Maria. Fr. La Visitation de la Vierge 
Ger. Die Heimsuchung Maria. July 2. 


AFTER the Annunciation of the angel, the Scrip- 
ture goes on to relate how “ Mary arose and went 
up into the hill country with haste, to the house of 
her cousin Elizabeth, and saluted her.” This 
meeting of the two kinswomen is the subject styled 
in art the “ Visitation,” and sometimes the “ Salu- 
tation of Elizabeth.” It is of considerable impor- 
tance, in a series of the life of the Virgin, as an 
event; and also, when taken separately in its reli- 
gious significance, as being the first recognition of 
the character of the Messiah. “Whence is this to 
me,” exclaims Elizabeth, “that the mother of my 
Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1. 43); and as 
she spoke this through the influence of the Holy 
Spirit, and not through knowledge, she is consid- 
ered in the light of a prophetess. 

Of Elizabeth I must premise a few words, be- 
cause in many representations relating to the life 
of the Virgin, and particularly in those domestic 
groups, the Holy Families properly so called, she 


804 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


is a personage of great importance, and we ough 
to be able, by some preconceived idea of her bear- 
ing and character, to test the propriety of that im. 
personation usually adopted by the artists. We 
must remember that she was much older than her 
cousin, a woman “ well stricken in years;” but it is 
a great mistake to represent her as old, as wrinkled 
and decrepit, as some painters have done. We are 
told that she was righteous before the Lord, “* walk- 
ing in all his commandments blameless:” the 
manner in which she received the visit of Mary, 
acknowledging with a glad humility the higher 
destinies of her young relative, show her to have 
been free from all envy and jealousy. ‘Therefore 
all pictures of Elizabeth should exhibit her as an 
elderly, but not an aged matron ; a dignified, mild, 
and gracious creature; one selected to high honour 
by the Searcher of hearts, who, looking down on 
hers, had beheld it pure from any secret taint of 
selfishness, even as her conduct had been blameless 
before man.* 


Such a woman as we believe Mary to have been 
must have loved and honoured such a woman ag 
Elizabeth. Wherefore, having heard that Eliza. 
beth had been exalted to a miraculous motherhood, 
she made haste to visit her, not to ask her advice, 
— for being graced with all good gifts of the Holy 


* For a full account of the legends relating to Elizabeth, the 
mother of the Baptist. see the fourth series of Sacred anil Le 
gendary Art. 


THE VISITATION. 305 


Spirit, and herself the mother of Wisdom, she 
could not need advice,—but to sympathize with 
her cousin and reveal what had happened to her- 
self. 

Thus then they met, “these two mothers of two 
great princes, of whom one was pronounced the 
greatest born of woman, and the other was his 
Lord:” happiest and most exalted of all woman- 
kind before or since, “needs must they have dis- 
coursed like seraphim and the most ecstasied order 
of Intelligences!” Such was the blessed encounter 
represented in the Visitation. 


The number of the figures, the locality and cir- 
cumstances, vary greatly. Sometimes we have 
only the two women, without accessories of any 
kind, and nothing interferes with the high solem- 
nity of that moment in which Elizabeth confesses 
the mother of her Lord. The better to express this 
willing homage, this momentous prophecy, she is 
often kneeling. Other figures are frequently in- 
troduced, because it could not be supposed that 
Mary made the journey from Nazareth to the 
dwelling of Zacharias near Jerusalem, a distance 
of fifty miles, alone. Whether her husband Joseph 
accompanied her, is doubtful; and while many 
artists have introduced him, others have omitted 
him altogether. According to the ancient Greek 
formula Jaid down for the religious painters, Mary 
is accompanied by a servant or a boy, who carries 
a stick across his shoulder, and a basket slung to it 


806 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


The old Italians who followed the Byzantine models 
seldom omit this attendant, but in some instances 
(as in the magnificent composition of Michael An 
gelo, in the possession of Mr. Bromley, of Wootten) 
a handmaid bearing a basket on her head is substi- 
tuted for the boy. In many instances Joseph, at- 
tired as a traveller, appears behind the Virgin, and 
Zacharias, in his priestly turban and costume, be- 
hind Elizabeth. 

The locality is often an open porch or a garden 
in front of a house; and this garden of Zacharias 
is celebrated in Eastern tradition. It is related 
that the blessed Virgin, during her residence with 
her cousin Elizabeth, frequently recreated herself 
by walking in the garden of Zacharias, while she 
meditated on the strange and lofty destiny to which 
she was appointed; and further, that happening 
one day to touch a certain flower, which grew 
there, with her most blessed hand, from being in- 
odorous before, it became from that moment deli- 
ciously fragrant. The garden therefore was a fit 
place for the meeting. 


1. The earliest representation of the Visitation 
to which I can refer is a rude but not ungraceful 
érawing, in the Catacombs at Rome, of two women 
embracing. It is not of very high antiquity, per- 
haps the seventh or eighth century, but there can 
be no doubt about the subject. (Cemetery of 
Julius, v. Bosio, Roma sotterana.) 

2. Cimabue has follewed the Greek formula, and 


THE VISITATION. 307 


nis simple group appears to me to have great feel- 
mg and simplicity. 

3. More modern instances, from the date of the 
~evival of art, abound in every form. Almost 
every painter who has treated subjects from the 
life of the Virgin has treated the Visitation. In 
the composition by Raphael (Madrid Gal.) there 
are the two figures only; and I should object to 
this otherwise perfect picture, the bashful conscious 
look of the Virgin Mary. The heads are, however, 
eminently beautiful and dignified. In the far back- 
ground is seen the Baptism of Christ — very hap- 
pily and significantly introduced, not merely as ex- 
pressing the name of the votary who dedicated the 
picture, Giovan-Baitista Branconio, but also as ex- 
pressing the relation between the two unborn Chil- 
dren — the Christ and his Prophet. 

4. The group by Sebastian de: Piombo is singu- 
larly grand, showing in every part the mfluence of 
Michael Angelo, but richly coloured in Sebastian’s 
best manner. The figures are seen only to the 
knees. In the background, Zacharias is seen hur- 
rving down some steps to receive the Virgin.* 

5. The group by Pinturicchio, with the attend- 
ant angels, is remarkable for its poetic grace; and 
that by Lucas v. Leyden is egually remarkable for 
affectionate sentiment. 

6. Still more beautiful, and more dramatic and 
varied, is another composition by Pinturicchio in 


* Leuvre, 1224. There is, in the Louvre another Visitation 
¢ singular and characteristic beauty by P Ghirlandajo. 


308 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


the Sala Borgia. (Vatican, Rome.) The Virgin 
and St. Elizabeth, in the.centre, take each other’s 
hands. Behind the Virgin is St. Joseph, a maiden 
with a basket on her head, and other attendants. 
Behind St. Elizabeth, we have a view into the in- 
terior of her house, through arcades richly sculp- 
tured; and within, Zacharias is reading, and the 
handmaids of Elizabeth are spinning and sewing. 
This elegant fresco was painted for Alexander 
Vi. 

7. There is a fine picture of this subject, by An- 
drea Sabattini of Salerno, the history of which is 
rather curious. “It was painted at the request of 
the Sanseverini, princes of Salerno, to be presented 
to a nunnery, in which one of that noble family 
had taken the veil. Under the form of the blessed 
Virgin, Andrea represented the last princess of 
Salerno, who was of the family of Villa Mari- 
na; under that of St. Joseph, the prince her hus- 
band; an old servant of the family figures as St. 
Elizabeth ; and in the features of Zacharias we 
recognize those of Bernardo Tasso, the father of 
Torquato Tasso, and then secretary to the prince 
of Salerno. After remaining for many years over 
the high altar of the church, it was removed through 
the scruples of one of the Neapolitan archbishops, 
who was scandalized by the impropriety of placing 
the portraits of well-known personages in such a 
situation.” The picture, once removed from its 
place, disappeared, and by some means found its 
way to the Louvre. Andrea, who was one of the 


THE VISITATION. $03 


most distinguished of the scholars of Raphael, died 
in 1545.* 

8. The composition by Rubens has all that scenic 
effect and dramatic movement which was charac- 
teristic of the painter. The meeting takes place 
or a flight of steps leading to the house of Zacha- 
rias. The Virgin wears a hat, as one just arrived 
from a journey ; Joseph and Zacharias greet each 
other; a maiden with a basket on her head follows; 
and in the foreground a man unloads the ass. 

I will mention two, other example, each perfect 
in its way,in two most opposite styles of treat- 
ment. 

9. The first is the simple majestic composition of 
Albertinelli. (Florence Gal.) The two women, 
standing alone under a richly sculptured arch, and 
relieved against the bright azure sky, embrace 
each other. There are no accessories. Mary is 
attired in dark-blue drapery, and Elizabeth wears 
an ample robe of a saffron or rather amber colour. 
The mingled grandeur, power, and grace, and 
depth of expression in these two figures, are quite 
extraordinary; they look like what they are, and 
worthy to be mothers of the greatest of kings and 
the greatest of prophets. Albertinelli has here 
emulated his friend Bartolomeo — his friend, whom 
he so loved, that when, after the horrible execution 
vf Savonarola, Bartolomeo, broken-hearted, threw 
himself into the convent of St. Mark, Albertinellj 


* This picture is thus described in the old catalogues of ths 
Louvre (No. 1207); but is not to be found in that of Villot 


310 LEGENDS OF. THE MADONNA. 


became almost distracted and desperate. He would 
certainly, says Vasari, have gone into the same 
convent, but for the hatred he bore the monks, “ of 
whom he was always saying the most injurious 
things.” 

Through some hidden influence of intense sym- 
pathy, Albertinelli, though in point of character 
the very antipodes of his friend, often painted so - 
like him, that his pictures — and this noble picture 
more particularly — might be mistaken for the work 
of the Frate. : 

10. We will now turn to a conception altogether 
different, and equally a masterpiece; it is the 
small but exquisitely finished composition by 
Rembrandt. (Grosvenor Gal.) The scene is the 
garden in front of the house of Zacharias; Eliza- 
beth is descending the steps in haste to receive and 
embrace with outstretched arms the Virgin Mary, 
who appears to have just alighted from her journey. 
The aged Zacharias, supported by a youth, is seen 
following Elizabeth to welcome their guest. Be- 
aind Mary stands a black female attendant, in the 
act of removing a mantle from her shoulders; in 
the background a servant, or (as I think) Joseph, 
holds the ass on which Mary has journeyed; a 
peacock with a gem-like train, and a hen with a 
brood of chickens (the latter the emblem of mater- 
nity), are in the foreground. Though the repre- 
sentation thus conceived appears like a scene of 
every-day life, nothing can be more poetical than 


THE DREAM OF JOSEPH. 314 


the treatment, more intensely true and noble than 
the expression of the diminutive figures, more mas- 
terly and finished than the execution, more magi- 
eal and lustrous than the effect of the whole. The 
work of Albertinelli, in its large and solemn beauty 
and religious significance, is worthy of being placed 
over an altar, on which we might offer up the work 
of Rembrandt as men offer incense, gems, and 
gold. 

As the Visitation is not easily mistaken, I have 
said enough of it here; and we pass to the next 
subject, — The Dream of Joseph. 


Although the feast of the Visitation is fixed for 
the 2d of July, it was, and is, a received opinion, 
that Mary began her journey to the hill country 
but a short time, even a few days, after the An- 
nunciation of the angel. It was the sixth month 
with Elizabeth, and Mary sojourned with her three 
months. Hence it is supposed, by many commen- 
tators, that Mary must have been present at the 
birth of John the Baptist. It may seem surprising 
that the early painters should not have made use 
of this supposition. I am not aware that there 
exists among the numerous representations of the 
birth of St. John, any instance of the Virgin being 
introduced ; it should seem that the lofty ideas en- 
tertained of the Mater Dei rendered it impossible 
to place her in a scene where she would necessa- 
nly take a subordinate position: this I think suff 


312 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


ciently aceounts for her absence.* Mary then 
returned to her own dwelling at Nazareth; and 
when Joseph (who in these legendary stories is 
constantly represented as a house-carpenter and 
builder, and travelling about to exercise his trade 
in various places) also came back to his home, and 
beheld his wife, the suspicion entered his mind that 
she was about to become a mother, and very natue 
rally his mind was troubled “ with sorrow and inse- 
cure apprehensions; but being a just man, that is, 
according to the Scriptures and other wise writers, 
a good, a charitable man, he would not openly dis- 
grace her, for he found it more agreeable to justice 
to treat an offending person with the easiest sen- 
tence, than to render her desperate, and without 
remedy, and provoked by the suffering of the worst 
of what she could fear. No obligation to justice 
can force a man to be cruel; pity, and forbearance, 
and long-suffering, and fair interpretation, and 
excusing our brother” (and our sister), “ and tak- 
ing things in the best sense, and passing the gen- 
tlest sentence, are as certainly our duty, and owing 
to every person who does offend and can repent, 
as calling men to account can be owing to the 
law.” (v. Bishop Taylor’s Life of Christ.) Thus 
says the good Bishop Taylor, praising Joseph, that 
he was too truly just to call furiously for justice, 


* There is, however, in the Liverpool Museum, a very exqui 
site miniature of the birth of St. John the Baptist, in which the 
female figure standing near represents, I think, the Virgin Mary 
it was cut out of a choral book of the Siena school. 


THE DREAM OF JOSEPR. $18 


pnd that, waiving the killing letter of the law, he 
was “minded to dismiss his wife privily ;” and in 
this he emulated the mercy of his divine foster- 
Son, who did not cruelly condemn the woman 
whom he knew to be guilty, but dismissed her “ to 
repent and sin no more.” But while Joseph was 
pondering thus in his heart, the angel of the Lord, 
the prince of angels, even Gabriel, appeared to 
him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, thou son of 
David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife!” 
and he awoke and obeyed that divine voice. 

This first vision of the angel is not in works 
of art easily distinguished from the second vision 
but there is a charming fresco by Luini, which can 
bear no other interpretation. Joseph is seated by 
the carpenter’s bench, and leans his head on his 
hand slumbering. (Milan, Brera.) An angel 
stands by him pointing to Mary who is seen at a 
window above, busied with needlework. 

On waking from this vision, Joseph, says the 
legend, “ entreated forgiveness of Mary for having 
wronged her even in thought.” This is a subject 
quite unknown, I believe, before the fifteenth cen- 
tury, and not commonly met with since, but there 
are some instances. On one of the carved stalls 
of the Cathedral of Amiens it is very poetically 
treated. (Stalles d’Amiens, p. 205.) Mary is 
seated on a throne under a magnificent canopy 
Joseph, kneeling before her and presented by two 
angels, pleads for pardon. She extends one hand 
0 him; in the other is the volume of the Holy 


B14 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Scriptures. There is a similar version of the text 
m sculpture over one of the doors of Notre-Dame 
at Paris. There is also a picture by Alessandro 
Tiarini (Le repentir de Saint Joseph, Louvre, 416), 
and reckoned by Malvasia his finest work, wherein 
Joseph kneels before the Virgin, who stands with a 
dignified air, and, while she raises him with one 
hand, points with the other up to heaven. Behind 
is seen the angel Gabriel with his finger on his lip, 
as commanding silence, and two other angels. 
The figures are life-size, the execution and colour 
very fine; the whole conception in the grand but 
mannered style of the Guido school. 


THE NATIVITY. 


fetal. Tl Presepio. Il Nascimento del Nostro Signore. Fr Ta 
Nativité. Ger. Die Geburt Christi. Dec. 25. 


Tue birth of our Saviour is related with charac- 
teristic simplicity and brevity in the Gospels; but 
in the early Christian traditions this great event 
is preceded and accompanied by several circum- 
stances which have assumed a certain importance 
and interest in the artistic representations. 

According to an ancient legend, the Emperor 
Augustus Cesar repaired to the sibyl Tiburtina, te 
inquire whether he should consent to allow himself 
to be worshipped with divine honours, which the 
Senate had decreed to him. The sibyl, after some 
days of meditation, took the Emperor apart, an? 


aT 


THE NATIVITY. — THE SIBYL. 318 


showed him an altar; and above the altar, in the 
opening heavens, and in a glory of light, he beheld 
a beautiful Virgin holding an Infant in her arms, 
and at the same time a voice was heard saying, 
“ This is the altar of the Son of the living God;” 
whereupon Augustus caused an altar to be erected 
on the Capitoline Hill, with this inscription, Ara 
primogenitt Dei; and on the same spot, in later 
times, was built the church called the Ara-Celi, 
well known, with its flight of one hundred and 
twenty-four marble steps, to all who have visited 
Rome. 

Of the sibyls, generally, in ther relation to 
sacred art, I have already spoken.* This particu- 
far prophecy of the Tiburtine sibyl to Augustus 
rests on some very antique traditions, pagan as 
well as Christian. It is supposed to have sug- 
gested the “ Pollio” of Virgil, which suggested the 
“ Messiah” of Pope. It is mentioned by writers 
of the third and fourth centuries, and our own di- 
vines have not wholly rejected it, for Bishop Tay- 
Jor mentions the sibyl’s prophecy among “the 
great and glorious accidents happening about the 
birth of Jesus.” (Life of Jesus Christ, sec. 4.) 

A very rude but curious bas-relief preserved in 
the church of the Ara-Ceeli is perhaps the oldest 
representation extant. The Church legend assigns 
to it a fabulous antiquity; but it must be older 


* Introduction. The personal character and history of the 
Bibyls will be treated in detail in tne fourth series of Sacred anJj 
Legendary Art. 


$16 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


than the twelfth century, as it is alluded to by 
writers of that period. Here the Emperor Augus- 
tus kneels before the Madonna and Child, and at 
his side is the sibyl, Tiburtina, pointing upwards. 

Since the revival of art, the incident has been 
frequently treated. It was painted by Cavallini, 
about 1340, on the vault of the choir of the Ara- 
Celi. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 
it became a favourite subject. It admitted of 
those classical forms, and that mingling of the hea- 
then and the Christian in style and costume, which 
were calculated to please the churchmen and ar- 
tists of the time, and the examples are innumer- 
able. 

The most celebrated, I believe, is the fresco by 
Baldassare Peruzzi, in which the figure of the sibyl 
is certainly very majestic, but the rest of the group 
utterly vulgar and commonplace. (Siena, Fonte 
Giusta.) Less famous, but on the whole prefer- 
able in point of taste, is the group by Garofalo, in 
the palace of the Quirinal; and there is another 
by Titian, in which the scene is laid in a fine land 
scape after his manner. Vasari mentions a car- 
toon of this subject, painted by Rosso for Francis 
I., “ among the best things Rosso ever produced,” 
and introducing the King and Queen of France, 
their guards, and a concourse of people, as specta- 
tors of the scene. In some instances the locality 
is a temple, with an altar, before which kneels the 
Emperor, having laid upon it his sceptre and lame 
evown : the sibyl points to the vision seen through 


‘on, ht 


THE NATIVITY. $1? 


k& window above. I think it is so :epresented in 
a large picture at Hampton Court, by Pietro da 
Cortona. 


The sibylline prophecy is supposed to have oc- 
curred a short time before the Nativity, about the 
Bame period when the decree went forth “ that all 
the world should be taxed.” Joseph, therefore, 
arose and saddled his ass, and set his wife upon it, 
and went up from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The 
way was long, and steep, and weary; “ and when 
Joseph looked back, he saw the face of Mary that 
it was sorrowful, as of one in pain; but when he 
looked back again, she smiled. And when they 
were come to Bethlehem, there was no room for 
them in the inn, because of the great concourse of 
people. And Mary said to Joseph, “Take me 
down for I suffer.” (Protevangelion.) 

The journey to Bethlehem, and the grief and 
perplexity of Joseph, have been often represented. 
1. There exists a very ancient Greek carving in 
ivory, wherein Mary is seated on the ass, with an 
expression of suffering, and Joseph tenderly sus- 
tains her; she has one arm round his neck, lean- 
ing on him: an angel leads the ass, lighting the 
way with atorch. It is supposed that this curious 
relic formed part of the ornaments of the ivory 
throne of the Exarch of Ravenna, and that it is at 
least as old as the sixth century.* 2. There is an 

“It is engraved in Gori’s “‘ Thesaurus,” and described ta 
Miinter’s ‘‘ Sinnbilder.”’ 

21 


318 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


instance more dramatic in an engraving after a 
master of the seventeenth century. Mary, seated 
on the ass, and holding the bridle, raises her eyes 
to heaven with an expression of resignation ; Jo- 
seph, cap in hand, humbly expostulates with the 
master of the inn, who points towards the stable; 
the innkeeper’s wife looks up at the Virgin with a 
strong expression of pity and sympathy. 3. I re- 
member another print of the same subject, where, 
in the background, angels are seen preparing the 
cradle in a cave. 

I may as well add that the Virgin, in this char- 
acter of mysterious, and religious, and most pure 
maternity, is venerated under the title of Za Ma- 


donna del Pario.* 
‘ 


* Every one who has visited Naples will remember the church 
on the Mergellina, dedicated to the Madonna del Parto, where 
lies, beneath his pagan tomb, the poet Sannazzaro. Mr. Hallam, 
in a beautiful passage of his ‘* History of the Literature of Eu- 
rope,” has pointed out the influence of the genius of Tasso on 
the whole school of Bolognese painters of that time. Not 
less striking was the influence of Sannazzaro and his famous 
poem on the Nativity (De Parti Virginis), on the contemporary 
productions of Italian art, and more particularly as regards the 
subject under consideration: I can trace it through all the 
schools of art, from Milan to Naples, during the latter half cf 
the sixteenth century. Of Sannazzaro’s poem, Mr. Hallam says, 
that ‘‘it would be difficult to find its equal for purity, elegance, 
and harmony of versification.”” It is not the less true, that 
even its greatest merits as a Latin poem exercised the most per- 
verse influence on the religious art of that period. It was, in- 
eed, only one of the many influences which may be said te 
have demoralized the artists of the sixteenth century, but 
was one of the greatest. 


THE NATIVITY AS A MYSTERY. 319 


The Nativity of our Saviour, like the Annunci- 
ation, has been treated in two ways, as a mystery © 
and as an event, and we must be careful to dis 
criminate between them. 


THE NATIVITY AS A MYSTERY. 


la the first sense the artist has intended- simply 
te express the advent of the Divinity on earth in 
the form of an Infant, and the motif is clearly 
taken from a text in the Office of the Virgin, 
Virgo quem genuit, adoravit. In the beautiful 
words of Jeremy Taylor, “She blessed him, she 
worshipped him, and she thanked him that he 
would be born of her ;” as, indeed, many a young 
mother has done before and since, when she has 
hung in adoration over the cradle of her first-born 
child ; — but here the child was to be a descended 
God; and nothing, as it seems to me, can be more 
graceful and more profoundly suggestive than the 
manner in which some of the early Italian artists 
have expressed this idea. When, in such pictures, 
the locality is marked by the poor stable, or the 
rough rocky cave, it becomes “a temple full of 
religion, full of glory, where angels are the minis- 
ters, the holy Virgin the worshipper, and Christ 
the Deity.” Very few accessories are admitted, 
merely such as serve to denote that the subject is 
“a Nativity,” properly so called, and not the 
“Madre Pia,” as already Jescribed. 


820 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


The divine Infant lies in the centre of the pie: 
ture, sometimes on a white napkin, sometimes with 
no other bed than the flowery turf; sometimes his 
head rests on a wheat-sheaf, always here inter- 
preted as “the bread of life.” He places his fin- 
ger on his lip, which expresses the Verbum sum 
(or, Vere Verbum hoc est abbreviatum), “I am the 
word,” or “I am the bread of life” (Ego sum panis 
ille vite. John vi. 48), and fixes his eyes on the 
heavens above, where the angels are singing the 
Gloria in excelsis. In one instance, I remember 
an angel holds up the cross before him; in an 
other, he grasps it in his hand; or it is a nail, or 
the crown of thorns, anticipative of his earthly 
destiny. The Virgin kneels on one side; St. Jo 
seph, when introduced, kneels on the other; and 
frequently angels unite with them in the act of 
adoration, or sustain the new-born Child. In this 
poetical version of the subject, Lorenzo di Credi, 
Perugino, Francia, and Bellini, excelled all oth- 
ers.* Lorenzo, in particular, became quite re- 
yowned for the manner in which he treated it, and 
a number of beautiful compositions from his hand 
exist in the Florentine and other galleries. 

There are instances in which attendant saints 
and votaries are introduced as beholding and ador- 
ing this great mystery. 1. For instance, in a pic- 
ture by Cima, Tobit and the angel are introduced 

* There are also most charming examples in sculpture by 


Luca della Robbia, Donatello, and other masters of the Florentine 
tchool 


THE NATIVITY AS A MYSTERY. 32? 


on one side, and St. Helena and St. Catherine on 
the other. 2. In a picture by Francia (Bologna | 
Gal.), the Infant, reclining upon a white napkin, 
is adored by the kneeling Virgin, by St. Augustine, 
and by two angels also kneeling. The votary, 
Antonio Galeazzo Bentivoglio, for whom the piec- 
ture was painted, kneels in the habit of a pilgrim.* 
He had lately returned from a pilgrimage to Jeru- 
salem and Bethlehem, thus poetically expressed in 
the scene of the Nativity, and the picture was ded- 
icated as an act of thanksgiving as well as of faith. 
St. Joseph and St. Francis stand on one side; on 
the other is a shepherd crowned with laurel. 
Francia, according to tradition, painted his own 
portrait as St. Francis; and his friend the poet, 
Girolamo Casio de’ Medici, as the shepherd. 3. In 
a large and famous Nativity by Giulio Romano 
(Louvre, 293), which once belonged to our Charles 
L, St. John the Evangelist, and St. Longinus (whe 
pierced our Saviour’s side with his lance), are 
standing on each side as two witnesses to the 
divinity of Christ ;— here strangely enough placed 
on a par; but we are reminded that Longinus had 
lately been inaugurated as patron of Mantua. (v. 
Sacred and Legendary Art.) 

In a triptych ty Hans Hemling (Berlin Gal.) 


*“C An excellent ikeness,” says Vasari. It is engraved as 
puch in Litta’s Memorials of the Bentivogli. Girolamo Casic 
teceived the laurel crown from the hand of Clement VII. iu 
+628. A beautifui votive Madonna, dedicated by Girolame Casiy 
pnii his son Giacomo, and painted by Beltraflio, is in the Louvre 


‘1. 


322 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


we have in the centre the Child, adored, as usual, 
by the Virgin mother and attending angels, the 
votary also kneeling: in the compartment on the 
right, we find the manifestation of the Redeemer 
to the west exhibited in the prophecy of the sibyl 
to Augustus ; on the left, the manifestation of the 
Redeemer to the east is expressed by the journey 
of the Magi, and the miraculous star — “ we have 
seen his star in the east.” 

But of all these ideal Nativities, the most striking 
is one by Sandro Botticelli, which is indeed a com- 
prehensive poem, a kind of hymn on the Nativity, 
and might be set to music. In the centre is a shed, 
beneath which the Virgin, kneeling, adores the 
Child, who has his finger on his lip. Joseph is 
seen a little behind, as if in meditation. On the 
right hand, the angel presents three figures (proba- 
bly the shepherds) crowned with olive; on the left 
is a sunilar group. On the roof of the shed, three 
angels, with olive-branches in their hands, sing the 
Gloria in excelsis. Above these are twelve angels 
dancing or floating round in a circle, holding olive- 
branches between them. In the foreground, in the 
margin of the picture, three figures rising out of the 
flames of purgatory are received and embraced by 
angels. With all its quaint fantastic grace and dry- 
ness of execution, the whole conception is full of 
1aeaning, religious as well as poetical. The mtro 
duction of the olive, and the redeemed souls, may 
express “ peace on earth, good will towards men ; 
tr the olive may likewise refer to that period of 


THE NATIVITY AS AN EVENT. 323 


universal peace in which the Prince of Peace was 
born into the world.* 

I must mention one more instance for its extreme 
beauty. Ina picture by Lorenzo di Credi (Flor- 
ence, Pal. Pitti) the Infant Christ lies on the 
ground on a part of the veil of the Virgin, and 
holds in his hand a bird. In the background, the 
miraculous star sheds on the earth a perpendicular 
blaze of light, and farther off are the shepherds. 
On the other side, St. Jerome, introduced, perhaps, 
because he made his abode at Bethlehem, is seated 
beside his lion. 


THE NATIVITY AS AN EVENT. 


We now come to the Nativity historically treated, 
in which time, place, and circumstance, have to be 
considered as in any other actual event. 

The time was the depth of winter, at midnight ; 
the place a poor stable. According to some author- 
ities, this stable was the interior of a cavern, still 
shown at Bethlehem as the scene of the Nativity 
in front of which was a ruined house, once inhab- 
ited by Jesse, the father of David, and near the 
spot where David pastured his sheep: but the | 
house was now a shed partly thatched, and open 


* This singular picture, -ormerly in the Ottley collection, was, 
when I saw it, in the possession of Mr Fuller Maitland, of Stan 
wed Park. 


824 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


at that bitter zeason to all the winds of heaven, 
Here it was that the Blessed Virgin “ brought 
forth her first-born Son, wrapped him in swad- 
dling clothes, and laid him in a manger.” 

We find in the early Greek representations, and 
in the early Italian painters who imitated the By- 
zantine models, that in the arrangement a certain 
pattern was followed: the locality is a sort of cave 
— literally a hole in a rock; the Virgin Mother 
reclines on a couch; near her lies the new-born 
Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes. In one very 
ancient example (a miniature of the ninth century 
in a Greek Menologium), an attendant is washing 
the Child. 

But from the fourteenth century we find this 
treatment discontinued. It gave just offence. The 
greatest theologians insisted that the birth of the 
Infant Christ was as pure and miraculous as his 
conception: and it was considered little less than 
heretical to portray Mary reclining on a couch as 
one exhausted by the pangs of childbirth (Isaiah 
Ixvi. 7), or to exhibit assistants as washing the 
heavenly Infant. “To her alone,” says St. Ber- 
nard, “did not the punishment of Eve extend.” 
“ Not in sorrow,” says Bishop Taylor, “ not in pain, 
but in the posture and guise of worshippers (that 
is, kneeling), and in the midst of glorious thoughts 
and speculations, did Mary bring her Son into the 
world.” 

We must seek for the accessories and circum 
stances usualy introduced by the painters in the 


THE NATIVITY AS AN EVENT. 325 


pld legendary traditions then accepted and _ be- 
lieved. (Protevangelion, xiv.) Thus one legend 
relates that Joseph went to seek a midwife, and 
met a woman coming down from the mountains, 
with whom he returned to the stable. But when 
they entered it was filled with light greater than 
the sun at noonday; and as the light decreased 
and they were able to open their eyes, they be- 
held Mary sitting there with her Infant at her 
posom. And the Hebrew woman being amazed 
paid, “ Can this be true?” and Mary answered, “It 
is true; as there is no child like unto my son, so 
there is no woman like unto his mother.” 


These circumstances we find in some of the early 
representations, more or less modified by the taste 
of the artist. I have seen, for instance, an old 
German print, in which the Virgin “ in the posture 
and guise of worshippers,” kneels before her Child 
as usual; while the background exhibits a hilly 
country, and Joseph with a lantern in his hand 
is helping a woman over a stile. Sometimes there 
are two women, and then the second is always 
Mary Salome, who, according to a passage in the 
same popular authority, visited the mother in her 
hour of travail. 

The angelic choristers in the sky, or upon the roof 
of the stable, sing the Gloria un excelsis Deo ; they 
are never, I believe, omitted, and in early pictures 
are always three in number; but in later pictures, 
the mystic three become a chorus of musicians 


B26 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Joseph is generally sitting by, leaning on his staff 
in profound meditation, or asleep as one overcome 
hy fatigue ; or with a taper or a lantern in his hand, 
to express the night-time. 

Among the accessories, the ox and the ass are 
indispensable. The introduction of these animals 
rests on an antique tradition mentioned by St 
Jerome, and also on two texts of prophecy: “ The 
ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s 
erib” (Isaiah i. 3); and Habakkuk iii. 4, is ren- 
dered in the Vulgate, “ He shall lie down between 
the ox and the ass.” From the sixth century, 
which is the supposed date of the earliest extant, 
to the sixteenth century, there was never any rep- 
resentation of the Nativity without these two ani- 
mals; thus in the old carol so often quoted — 


“ Agnovit bos et asinus 
Quod Puer erat Dominus! ” 


In some of the earliest pictures the animals 
kneel, “ confessing the Lord.” (Isaiah xliii. 20.) 
In some instances they stare into the manger with 
a most naive expression of amazement at what they 
find there. One of the old Latin hymns, De Na. 
tivitate Domini, describes them, in that wintry night 
as warming the new-born Infant with their breath 
and they have always been interpreted as symbols, 
the ox as emblem of the Jews, the ass of the Gen 
tiles. 

I wonder if it has ever occurred to those who 
have studied the inner life and meaning of these 


THE NATIVITY AS AN EVENT. 327 


old representations, owed to them, perhaps, 
homilies of wisdom, as well as visions of poetry, 
—that the introduction of the ox and the ass, 
those symbols of animal servitude and inferiority, 
might be otherwise translated ; — that their pathetic 
dumb recognition of the Saviour of the world might 
be interpreted as extending to them also a partici- 
pation in his mission of love and mercy ;— that 
since to the lower creatures it was not denied to 
be present at that great manifestation, they are thus 
brought nearer to the sympathies of our humanity, 
as we are, thereby, lifted to a nearer communion 
with the universal spirit of love;— but this is 
“considering too deeply,” perhaps, for the occa- 
sion.. Return we to our pictures. Certainly we 
are not in danger of being led into any profound 
or fanciful speculations by the ignorant painters 
of the later schools of art. In their “ Nativities,” 
the ox and ass are not, indeed, omitted; they must — 
be present by religious and prescriptive usage; but 
they are to be made picturesque, as if they were 
in the stable by right, and as if it were only a sta- 
ble, not a temple hallowed to a diviner significance 
The ass, instead of looking devoutly into the cra- 
dle, stretches out his lazy length in the foreground ; 
the ox winks his eyes with a more than bovine 
stupidity. In some of the old German pictures, 
while the Hebrew ox is quietly chewing the cud, 
the Gentile ass “lifts up his voice” and brays 
with open mouth, as if in triumph. 

One version of this subject, by Agnolo Gaddi, is 


828 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


conceived with much simplicity and originality 
The Virgin and Joseph are seen together within 
a rude and otherwise solitary building. She points 
expressively to the manger where lies the divine 
Infant, while Joseph leans on his staff and appeara 
lost in thought. 

Correggio has been much admired for represent- 
ing in his famous Nativity the whole picture as 
lighted by the glory which proceeds from the 
divine Infant, as if the idea had been new and 
original. (‘La Notte,’ Dresden Gal.) It occurs 
frequently before and since his time, and is founded 
on the legendary story quoted above, which de- 
scribes the cave or stable filled with a dazzling and 
supernatural light. 


It is not often we find the Nativity represented 
as an historical event without the presence of the 
shepherds ; nor is the supernatural announcement 
to the shepherds often treated as a separate sub- 
ject: it generally forms part of the background of 
the Nativity; but there are some striking exam- 
ples. 

In a print by Rembrandt, he has emulated, in 
picturesque and poetical treatment, his famous Vis- 
ion of Jacob, in the Dulwich Gallery. The ange: 
(always supposed to be Gabriel) appears in a burst 
of radiance through the black wintry midnight, sur- 
rounded by a multitude of the heavenly host. The 
shepherds fall prostrate, as men amazed and “sore 
afraid;” the cattle flee different ways in terror 


THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS. 329 


(Luke ii. 9.) I do not say that this is the most 
elevated way of expressing the scene; but, as ap. 
example of characteristic style, it is perfect. 


THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS. 


itei. L’ Adorazione dei Pastori. Fr. L’Adoration des Bergers 
Ger. Die Anbetung der Hirten. 


THE story thus proceeds:— When the angels 
were gone away into heaven, the shepherds came 
with haste, “and found Mary, and Joseph, and the 
young Child lying in a manger.” 

Being come, they present their pastoral offerings 
—a lamb, or doves, or fruits (but these, consider- 
ing the season, are misplaced) ; they take off their 
hats with reverence, and worship in rustic fashion. 
In Raphael’s composition, the shepherds, as we 
might expect from him, look as if they had lived in 
Arcadia. In some of the later Italian pictures, 
they pipe and sing. It is the well-known custom 
in Italy for the shepherds of the Campagna, and 
of Calabria, to pipe before the Madonna and Child 
at Christmas time; and these Piffereri, with their 
sheepskin jackets, ragged hats, bagpipes, and ta- 
bors, were evidently the models reproduced in 
some of the finest pictures of the Bolognese school ; 
for instance, in the famous Nativity by Annibale 
Caracci, where a picturesque figure in the corner 
is blowing into the bagpipes with might and main. 
In the Venetian pictures of the Nativity, the shep- 


330 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


herds are accompanied by their women, their sheep, 
and even their dogs. According to an old legend, 
Simon and Jude, afterwards apostles, were among 
these shepherds. 

When the angels scatter flowers, as in composi- 
tions by Raphael and Ludovico Caracci, we must 
suppose that they were not gathered on earth, but in 
heaven. / 

The Infant is sometimes asleep: — so Milton 
sings — 

“But see the Virgin blest 
Hath laid her Babe to rest!” 


In a drawing by Raphael, the Child slumbers, and 
Joseph raises the coverlid, to show him to a shep- 
herd. We have the same idea in several other in- 
stances. In a graceful composition by Titian, it is 
the Virgin Mother who raises the veil from the face 
of the sleeping Child. 


From the number of figures and accessories, the 
Nativity thus treated as an historical subject be- 
comes capable of almost endless variety ; but as it 
ig one not to be mistaken, and has a universal 
meauing and interest, I may now leave it to the 
fancy and discrimination of the observer. 


THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. 331 


THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. 


ital. L’ Adorazione de’ Magi. L’ Epifania. Fr. L’Adoration dea 
Rois Mages. Ger. Die Anbetung der Weisen aus dem Morgen- 
land. Die heiligen drei Kénige. Jan. 6. 


Tas, the most extraordinary incident in the 
early life of our Saviour, rests on the authority of 
one evangelist only. It is related by St. Matthew 
so briefly, as to present many historical and philo- 
sophical difficulties. I must give some idea of the 
manner in which these difficulties were elucidated 
by the early commentators, and of the notions 
which prevailed in the middle ages relative to the 
country of the Three Kings, before it will be pos- 
sible to understand or to appreciate the subject as 
it has been set before us in every style of art, in 
every form, in every material, from the third cen- 
tury to the present time. 

In the first place, who were these Magi, or these 
kings, as they are sometimes styled? “ To sup- 
pose,” says the antique legend, “that they were 
called Magi because they were addicted to magic, 
or exercised unholy or forbidden arts, would be, 
heaven save us! a rank heresy.” No! Magi, in 
the Persian tongue, signifies “ wise men.” They 
were, in their own country, kings or princes, as it is 
averred by all the ancient fathers; and we are not 
to be offended at the assertion, that they were at 
mce princes and wise men, — “Car A lusage de 


§32 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


ee temps-la les princes et les rois etoient tres 
pages |” * 

They came from the eastern country, but from 
what country is not said; whether from the land of 
the Arabians, or the Chaldeans, or the Persians, or 
the Parthians. 

It is written in the Book of Numbers, that when 
Balaam, the son of Beor, was called upon to curse 
the children of Israel, he, by divine inspiration, ut- 
tered a blessing instead of a curse. And he tock 
up this parable, and said, “I shall see him, but not 
now; I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall 
eome a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out 
of Israel.” And the people of that country, though 
they were Gentiles, kept this prophecy as a tradi- 
tion among them, and waited with faith and hope 
for its fulfilment. When, therefore, their princes 
and wise men beheld a star different in its appear- 
ance and movement from those which they had been 
xecustomed to study (for they were great astrono- 
mers), they at once knew its import, and hastened 
to follow its guidance. According to an ancient 
commentary on St. Matthew, this star, on its first 
appearance, had the form of a radiant child bear- 
ing a sceptre or cross. In a fresco by ‘Taddeo 
Gaddi, it is thus figured; and this is the only in- 
stance Ican remember. But to proceed witb our 
story. y 

When the eastern sages beheld this wondrous 


* Quoted literally from the legend in the 21d French versioa 
of the Flos Sanctorum. 


JAE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. 333 


and long-expected star, they rejoiced greatly ; and 
they arose, and taking leave of their lands and their. 
vassals, their relations and their friends, set forth 
on their long and perilous journey across vast des- 
erts and mountains, and broad rivers, the star go- 
ing before them, and arrived at length at Jerusa- 
lem, with a great and splendid train of attendants. 
Being come there, they asked at once, “ Where is 
he who is born king of the Jews?” On hearing 
this question, King Herod was troubled, and all the 
city with him ; and he inquired of the chief priests 
where Christ should be born. And they said to 
him, “in Bethlehem of Judea.” ‘Then Herod pri- 
vately called the wise men, and desired they would 
go to Bethlehem, and search for the young child 
(he was careful not to call him King), saying, 
“ When ye have found him, bring me word, that I 
may come and worship him also.” So the Magi 
departed, and the star which they had seen in the 
east went before them, until it stood over the place 
where the young child was—he who was born 
King of kings. They had travelled many a long 
and weary mile ; “ and what had they come for to 
see ?” Instead of a sumptuous palace, a mean and 
lowly dwelling; in place of a monarch surrounded 
by his guards and ministers and all the terrors of 
his state, an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes 
and laid upon his mother’s knee, between the ox 
and the ass. They had come, perhaps, from some 
far-distant savage land, or from some nation calling 
itself civilized, where innetence had never been ac- 
22 


B34 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA, 


counted sacred, where society had as yet taken no 
heed of the defenceless woman, no care for the 
helpless child ; where the one was enslaved, and the 
other perverted : and here, under the form of wom- 
anhood and chiklhood, they were called upon te 
worship the promise of that brighter future, when 
peace should inherit the earth, and righteousness 
prevail over deceit,-and gentleness with wisdom 
reion for ever and ever! How must they have 
been amazed! how must they have wondered in 
their souls at such a revelation ! — yet such was the 
faith of these wise men and excellent kings, that 
they at once prostrated themselves, confessing in 
the glorious Innocent who smiled upon them from 
his mother’s knee, a greater than themselves — the 
image of a truer divinity than they had ever yet 
acknowledged. And having bowed themselves 
down —first, as was most fit, offering themselves, 
— they made offering of their treasure, as it had 
been written in ancient times, “ The kings of Tar- 
shish and the isles shall bring presents, and the 
kings of Sheba shall offer gifts.” And what were 
these gifts? Gold, frankincense, and myrrh; by 
which symbolical oblation they protested a three 
fold faith ;— by gold, that he was king; by in- 
cense, that he was God; by myrrh, that he was 
man, and doomed to death. In return for their 
gifts, the Saviour bestowed upon them others of 
more matchless price. For their gold he gave them 
charity and spiritual riches; for their incense, per 
feet faith; and for their myrrh, perfect truth and 


THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. 335 


meekness: and the Virgin, his mother, also be- 
stowed on them a precious gift and memorial, name. 
ty, one of those linen bands in which she had 
wrapped the Saviour, for which they thanked her 
with great humility, and laid it up amongst their 
treasures. When they had performed their devo- 
tions and made their offerings, being warned in a 
dream to avoid Herod, they turned back again to 
their own dominions; and the star which had for- 
merly guided them to the west, now went before 
them towards the east, and led them safely home. 
When they were arrived there, they laid down their 
earthly state ; and in emulation of the poverty and 
humility in which they had found the Lord of all 
power and might, they distributed their goods and 
possessions to the poor, and went about in mean at- 
tire, preaching to their people the new king of 
heaven and earth, the Curitp-Kine, the Prince of 
Peace. We are not told what was the success of 
‘heir mission ; neither is it anywhere recorded, that 
from that time forth, every child, as it sat on its 
mother’s knee, was, even for the sake of that 
Prince of Peace, regarded as sacred-—as the 
heir of a divine nature — as one whose tiny limbs 
enfolded a spirit which was to expand into the 
man, the king, the God. Such a result was, per- 
haps, reserved for other times, when the whole 
mission of that divine Child should be better under- 
stood than it was then, or is now. But there is an 
ancient oriental tradition, that about forty years 
later, when St. Thomas the apostle trivelled inte 


836 LEGPNDS OF THE MADONNA. 


the Indies, he found these Wise Men there, and 
did administer to them the rite of baptism; and 
that afterwards, in carrying the light of truth into 
the far East, they fell among barbarous Gentiles, 
and were put to death; thus each of them receiv- 
ing in return for the earthly crowns they had zast 
at the feet of the Saviour, the heavenly crown of 
martyrdom and of everlasting life. 

Their remains, long afterwards discovered, were 
brought to Constantinople by the Empress Helena; 
thence in the time of the first Crusade they were 
transported to Milan, whence they were carried 
off by the Emperor Barbarossa, and deposited 
in the cathedral at Cologne, where they remain 
to this day, laid in a shrine of gold and gems; 
and have performed divers great and glorious mir- 
acles. 


Such, in few words, is the church legend of the 
Magi of the East, the “ three Kings of Cologne,” as 
founded on the mysterious Gospel incident. States- 
men and philosophers, not less than ecclesiastics, 
have, as yet, missed the whole sense and large in- 
terpretation of the mythic as well as the scriptural 
story ; but well have the artists availed themselves 
of its picturesque capabilities! In their hands it 
aas gradually expanded from a mere symbol into a 
seene of the most dramatic and varied effect and 
the most gorgeous splendour. As a subject it is 
pne of the most ancient in the whole range of 
Christian art. Taken in the early religious sense 


TH ADORATION OF TRE MAGI. 3387 


it signified the calling of the Gentiles ; and as such 
we find it carved in bas-relief on the Christian sar- 
rophagi of the third and fourth centuries, and rep- 
resented with extreme simplicity. The Virgin 
mother is seated on a chair, and holds the Infant 
upright on her knee. The Wise Men, always 
three in number, and all alike, approach in atti 
tudes of adoration. In some instances they wear 
Phrygian caps, and their camels’ heads are seen 
behind them, serving to express the land whence 
they came, the land of the East, as well as their 
long journey; as on one of the sarcophagi in the 
Christian Museum of the Vatican. The star in 
these antique sculptures is generally omitted ; but 
in one or two instances it stands immediately over 
the chair of the Virgin. On a sarcophagus near 
the entrance of the tomb of Galla Placidia, at Ra- 
venna, they are thus represented. 

The mosaic in the church of Santa Maria Maggi- 
ore a+ Rome, is somewhat later in date than these 
sarcophagi (A.D. 440), and the representation is 
very peculiar and interesting. Here the Child is 
seated alone on a kind of square pedestal, with his 
band raised in benediction; behind the throne 
stand two figures, supposed to be the Virgin and 
Joseph; on each side, two angels. The kings ap- 
proach, dressed as Roman warriors, with helmets 
on their heads. 

In the mosaic in the church of Sant’ Appollinare- 
Novo, at Ravenna (a.p. 534), the Virgin receives 
them seated on a throne, attended by the arch 


638 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


angels ; they approach, wearing crowns on their 
heads, and bending in attitudes of reverence: all 
three figures are exactly alike, and rather less in 
proportion than the divine group. 


Immediately on the revival of art we find the 
Adoration of the Kings treated in the Byzantine 
style, with few accessories. Very soon, however, 
in the early Florentine school, the artists began 
to avail themselves of that picturesque variety of 
groups of which the story admitted. 

In the legends of the fourteenth century, the 
kings had become distinct personages, under the 
names of Caspar (or Jasper), Melchior, and Bal- 
thasar: the first being always a very aged’ man, 
with a long white beard; the second, a middle- 
aged man ; the third is young, and frequently he is 
a Moor or Negro, to express the King of Ethiopia 
or Nubia, and also to indicate that when the Gen- 
tiles were called to salvation, all the continents and 
races of the earth, of whatever complexion, were 
included. The difference of ages is indicated in 
the Greek formula; but the difference of complex- 
ion is a modern innovation, and more frequently 
found in the German than in the Italian schools. 
In the old legend of the Three Kings, as inserted 
m Wright’s “Chester Mysteries,” Jasper, or Cas- 
par, is King of Tarsus, the land of merchants; he 
makes the offering of gold. Melchior, the King 
of Arabia and Nubia, offers frankincense; anc 
Balthasar, King of Saba,— “the land of spices 


THE ADORATION OF TH MAGI. 339 


and all manner of precious gums,” — offerg 
myrrh.* 

It is very usual to fiud, in the Adoration of the 
Magi, the angelic announcement to the shepherds 
introduced into the background; or, more poetical: 
ly, the Magi approaching on one side, and the 
shepherds on the other. The intention is then to 
express a double signification; it is at once the 
manifestation to the Jews, and the manifestation te 
the Gentiles. 

The attitude of the Child varies. In the best 
pictures he raises his little hand in benediction. 
The objection that he was then only an infant of a 
few days old is futile: for he was from his birth the 
Curist. It is also in accordance with the beauti- 
ful and significant legend which describes him as 
dispensing to the old wise men the spiritual bless- 
ings of love, meekness, and perfect faith, in return 
for their gifts and their homage. It appears to me 
bad taste, verging on profanity, to represent him 
plunging his little hand into the coffer of gold, or 
eagerly grasping one of the gold pieces. Neither 
should he be wrapped up in swaddling clothes, nor 
in any way a subordinate figure in the group; for 
it is the Epiphany, the Manifestation of a divine 
humanity to Jews and Gentiles, which is to be ex- 
pressed ; and there is meaning as well as beauty in 


* The names of the Three Kings appear for the first time in 4 
piece of rude sculpture over the door of Sant’ Andrea at Pistoia, 
to which is assigned the date 1166. (Vide D’Agincourt, Sczudlte- 
re, pl. xxvii.) 


B40 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


those compositions which represent the Virgin as 
lifting a veil and showing him to the Wise Men. 

The kingly character of the adorers, which be- 
came .n the thirteenth century a point of faith, is 
expressed by giving them all the paraphernalia and 
pomp of royalty according to the customs of the 
time in which the artist lived. They are followed 
by a vast train of attendants, guards, pages, grooms, 
falconers with hawks; and, in a picture by Gauden- 
zio Ferrari, we have the court-dwarf, and, in a pic- 
ture by Titian, the court-fool, both indispensable 
appendages of royal state in those times. The 
Kings themselves wear embroidered robes, crowns, 
and glittering weapons, and are booted and spurred 
as if just alighted from a long journey ; even on one 
of the sarcophagi they are seen in spurs. 

The early Florentine and Venetian painters prof- 
ited by the commercial relations of their countries 
with the Levant, and introduced all kinds of out- 
landish and oriental accessories to express the far 
country from which the strangers had arrived; 
thus we have among the presents, apes, peacocks, 
pheasants, and parrots. The traditions of the cru- 
sades also came in aid, and hence we have the 
plumed and jewelled turbans, the armlets and the 
scymitars, and, in the later pictures, even umbrellas 
and elephants. I remember, in an old Italian 
print of this subject, a pair of hunting leopards or 
chetas. 

It is a question whether Joseph was present — 
whether he ought to have been present: in one af 


THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. 34, 


the early legends, it is asserted that he hid himself 
and would not appear, out of his great humility, 
and because it should not be supposed that he arro- 
gated any relationship to the divine Child. But 
this version of the scene is quite inconsistent with 
the extreme veneration afterwards paid to Joseph; 
and in later times, that is, from the fifteenth cen- 
tury, he is seldom omitted. Sometimes he ‘= seen 
behind the chair of the Virgin, leaning on his stick, 
and contemplating the scene with a quiet admira- 
tion. Sometimes he receives the gifts offered to 
the Child, acting the part of a treasurer or cham- 
berlain. In a picture by Angelico one of the 
Magi grasps his hand as if in congratulation. In 
a composition by Parmigiano one of the Magi em- 
braces him. 

It was not uncommon for pious votaries to have 
themselves painted in likeness of one of the adoring 
Kings. In a picture by Sandro Botticelli, Cosmo 
de’ Medici is thus introduced ; and in a large and 
beautifully arranged composition by Leonardo da ~ 
Vinci, which unhappily remains as a sketch only, 
the three Medici of that time, Cosmo, Lorenzo, and 
Giuliano, are figured as the three Kings. (Both 
these pictures are in the Florence Gal.) 

A very remarkable altar-piece, by Jean Van 
Eyck, represents the worship of the Magi. In 
the centre, Mary and her Child are seated with- 
im aruined temple; the eldest >f the three Kings 
sneeling, does homage by kissing the hand of the 
Child: it is the portrait of Philip the Sood, Duke 


$42 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


of Burgundy. The second, prostrate behind him 
with a golden beaker in his hand, is supposed to be 
one of the great officers of his household. The 
third King exhibits the characteristic portrait of 
Charles the Bold: there is no expression of humil- 
ity or devotion either in his countenance or atti- 
tude; he stands upright, with a lofty disdainful air, 
as if he were yet unresolved whether he would 
kneel or.not. On the right of the Virgin, a little in 
the foreground, stands Joseph in a plain red dress, 
holding his hat in his hand, and looking with an 
air of simple astonishment at his magnificent guests. 
All the accessories in this picture, the gold and 
silver vessels, the dresses of the three Kings spark- 
ing with jewels and pearls, the velvets, silks, and 
costly furs, are painted with the most exquisite 
finish and delicacy, and exhibit to us the riches of 
the court of Burgundy, in which Van Eyck then 
resided. (Munich Gal., 45.) 

In Raphael’s composition, the worshippers wear 
the classical, not the oriental costume ; but an ele- 
phant with a monkey on his back is seen in the 
distance, which at once reminds us of the far East. 
(Rome, Vatican.) 

Ghirlandajo frequently painted the Adoration of 
the Magi, and shows in his management of the ac- 
. cessories much taste and symmetry. In one of his 
vompositions, the shed forms a canopy in the cen- 
tre ; two of the Kings kneel in front. The coun- 
try of the Ethiopian King is not expressed by 
making him of a black complexion, but by giving 


THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. 348 


him a Negro page, who is in the act of removing 
his master’s crown. (Florence, Pitti Pal.> 

A very complete example of artificial and elab- 
orate composition may be found in the drawing by 
Baldassare Peruzzi in our National Gallery. It 
contains at least fifty figures; in the centre, a 
magnificent architectural design; and wonderful 
studies of perspective to the right and left, in the 
long lines of receding groups. On the whole, it is 
a most skilful piece of work; but to my taste much 
like a theatrical decoration, — pompous without be- 
ing animated. 

A beautiful composition by Francia I must not 
pass over.* Here, to the left of the picture, the 
Virgin is seated on the steps of a ruined temple, 
against which grows a fig-tree, which, though it be 
December, is in full leaf. Joseph kneels at her 
side, and behind her are two Arcadian shepherds, 
with the ox and the ass. The Virgin, who has a 
charming air of modesty and sweetness, presents 
her Child to the adoration of the Wise Men: the 
first of these kneels with joined hands; the second, 
also kneeling, is about to present a golden vase; 
the Neesro King, standing, has taken off his cap, 
and holds a censer in his hand; and the divine 
aufant raises his hand in benediction. Behind the 
Kings are three figures on foot, one a beautiful youth 


* Dresden Gal. Arnold, the well-known print-seller at Dres- 
wen, has lately published a very beautiful and finished engrav- 
ing of this fine picture; the more valuable, because engravings 
witer Francia are very rare. 


B44 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


m an attitude of adoration. Beyond these are five 
or six figures on horseback, and a long train upon 
horses and camels is seen approaching in the back- 
ground. The landscape is very beautiful and cheer- 
ful; the whole picture much in the style of Francia’s 
master, Lorenzo Costa. I should at the first glance 
have supposed it to be his, but the head of the Vir 
gin is unmistakably Francia. 

There are instances of this subject idealized inte 
'a mystery; for example, in a picture by Palma 
Vecchio (Milan, Brera), St. Helena stands behind 
the Virgin, in allusion to the legend which connects 
her with the history of the Kings. In a picture 
by Garofalo, the star shining above is attended by 
angels bearing the instruments of the Passion, 
while St. Bartholomew, holding his skin, stands 
near the Virgin and Child: it was painted for 
the abbey of St. Bartholomew, at Ferrara. 

Among the German examples, the picture by 
Albert Durer,.in the tribune of the Florence Gal- 
lery; and that of Mabuse, in the collection of 
Lord Carlisle, are perhaps the most perfect of 
their kind. 

In the last-named picture the Virgin, seated, in 
a plain dark-blue mantle, with the German physt 
ognomy, but large browed, and with a very serious, 
aweet expression, holds the Child. The eldest of 
the Kings, as usual, offers a vase of gold, ont of 
whick Christ has taken a piece, which he holds ir 
sis hand. The name of the King, JASPER, is fn 
seribed on the vase; a younger King behind hold. 


TAE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. $45 


- peup. The black Ethiopian king, Balthasar, is 
conspicuous on the left; he stands, crowned and. 
arrayed in gorgeous drapery, and, as if more fully 
to mark the equality of the races — at least in spir- 
itual privileses— his train is borne by a white 
page. An exquisite landscape is seen through 
the arch behind, and the shepherds are approach- 
ing in the middle distance. On the whole, this is 
one of the most splendid pictures of the early 
Flemish school I have ever seen; for variety of 
character, glow of colour, and finished execution, 
quite unsurpassed. 

In a very rich composition by Lucas van Ley- 
den, Herod is seen in the background, standing in 
the balcony of his palace, and pointing out the 
scene to his attendants. 

As we might easily imagine, the ornamental 
painters of the Venetian and Flemish schools de- 
lighted in this subject, which allowed them full 
scope for their gorgeous colouring, and all their 
scenic and dramatic power. Here Paul Veronese 
revelled unreproved in Asiatic magnificence: here 
his brocaded robes and jewelled diadems harmo- 
nized with his subject; and his grand, old, bearded 
Venetian senators figured, not unsuitably, as East- 
ern Kings. Here Rubens lavished his ermine and 
erimson draperies, his vases, and ewers, and vcu- 
sers of flaming gold;— here poured over his can- 
vas the wealth “of Ormuz and of Ind.” Of hr- 
teen pictures of this subject, which he painted at 
uifferent times, the firest undoubtedly is that in 


346 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


the Madrid Gallery. Another, also very fine, is im 
the collection of the Marquis of Westminster. In 
both these, the Virgin, contrary to all former pre- 
cedent, is not seated, but standing, as she holds up 
her Child for worship. Afterwards we find the 
same ‘position of the Virgin in pictures by Van: 
dyck, Poussin, and other painters of the seven- 
teenth century. It is quite an innovation on the 
old religious arrangement; but in the utter ab- 
‘sence of all religious feeling, the mere arrange: 
ment of the figures, except in an artistic point ot 
view, is of little consequence. 

As a scene of oriental pomp, heightened by mys- 
terious shadows and flashing lights, I know nothing 
equal to the Rembrandt in the Queen’s Gallery; 
the procession of attendants seen emerging from 
the background through the transparent gloom is 
quite awful; but in this miraculous picture, the 
‘ovely Virgin Mother is metamorphosed into a 
voarse. Dutch vrow, and the divine Child looks like 
a changeling imp. 

In chapels dedicated to the Nativity or the 
Epiphany, we frequently find the journey of the 
Wise Men painted round the walls. They are 
seen mounted on horseback, or on camels, with a 
long train of attendants, here ascending a moun 
tain, there crossing a river; here winding through 
i defile, there emerging from a forest; while the 
miraculous star shines above, pointing out the way 
Sometimes we have the approach of the Wise Mer 
pn one side of the chapel, and their return to theiy 


THE ADORATION OF THE MAG. 3417 


own country on the other. On their homeward 
journey they are, in some few instances, embark-. 
ing in a ship: this occurs in a fresco by Lorenze 
Costa, and in a bas-relief in the cathedral of 
Amiens. The allusion is to a curious legend men- 
tioned by Arnobius the Younger, in his commer- 
tary on the Psalms (fifth century). He says, in 
reference to the 48th Psalm, that when Herod 
found that the three Kings had escaped from him 
“in ships of Tarsus,” in his wrath he burned all 
the vessels in the port. 

There is a beautiful fresco of the journey of the 
Magi in the Riccardi Chapel at Florence, painted 
by Benozzo Gozzoli for the old Cosmo de’ Medici. 

“The Baptism of the Magi by St. Thomas,” is 
one of the compartments of the Life of the Virgin, 
painted by Taddeo Gaddi, in the Baroncelli Chapel 
at Florence, and this is the only instance I can 
refer to. | 


Before I quit this subject— one of the most 
interesting in the whole range of art—I must 
mention a picture by Giorgione in the Belvedere 
Gallery, well known as one of the few undoubted 
productions of that rare and fascinating painter, 
and often referred to because of its beauty. Its sig- 
nification has hitherto escaped all writers on art, 
as far as I am acquainted with them, and has been 
dismissed as one of his enigmatical allegories. It 
*s called in German, Die Feldmdsser (the Land 
Surveyors), and sometimes styled in English the 


B48 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA 


Geometricians, or the Philosophers, or the Astrolo- 
gers. It represents a wild, rocky landscape, im 
which are three men. The first, very aged, in an 
oriental costume, with a long gray beard, stands 
holding in his hand an astronomical table; the 
next, a man in the prime of life, seems listening to 
him; the third, a youth, seated and looking up» 
wards, holds a compass. I have myself no doubt 
that this beautiful picture represents the “ three 
wise men of the East,” watching on the Chaldean 
hills the appearance of the miraculous star, and 
that the light breaking in the far horizon, called in 
the German description the rising sun, is intended 
to express the rising of the star of Jacob.* In the 
sumptuous landscape, and colour, and the pictu- 
resque rather than religious treatment, this picture 
is quite Venetian. The interpretation here sug- 
gested I leave to the consideration of the observer ; 
and without allowing myself to be tempted on to 
further illustration, will only add, in conclusion, 
that I do not remember any Spanish picture of this 
subject remarkable either for beauty or origi- 
nality.t 


* There is also a print by Giulio Bonasoni, which appears ta 
represent the wise men watching for the star. (Bartsch, xv 
156.) 
t In the last edition of the Vienna Catalogue, this picture has 
received its proper title. 


THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE. 348 


[THE PURIFICATION OF THE VIRGIN THE 
PRESENTATION, AND THE CIRCUMCISION 
OF CHRIST. 


tal. La Purificazione della B. Vergine. Ger. Die Darbringung 
im Tempel. Die Beschneidung Christi. 


AFTER the birth of her Son, Mary was careful to 
fulfil all the ceremonies of the Mosaic law. Asa 
first-born son, he was to be redeemed by the offering 
of five shekels, or a pair of young pigeons (in mem- 
ory of the first-born of Egypt). But previously, 
being born of the children of Abraham, the infant 
Christ was submitted to the sanguinary rite which 
sealed the covenant of Abraham, and received the 
name of Jesus — “ that name before which every 
knee was to bow, which was to be set above the 
powers of magic, the mighty rites of sorcerers, the 
secrets of Memphis, the drugs of Thessaly, the 
silent and mysterious murmurs of the wise Cral- 
dees, and the spells of Zoroaster; that name which 
we should engrave on our hearts, and pronounce 
with our most harmonious accents, and rest our 
faith on, and place our hopes in, and love with 
the overflowing of charity, joy, and adoration.’ 
(v. Bishop Taylor’s Life of Christ.) 

The circumcision and the naming of Christ have 
many times been painted to express the first of 
the sorrows of the Virgin, being the first of the 
pangs which her Son was to suffer on earth. But 

23 


850 LEGEI!DS OF THE MADONNA. 


the Presentation in the Temple has been selected 
with better taste for the same purpose; and the 
prophecy of Simeon, “Yea, a sword shall pierce 
through thy own soul also,” becomes the first of the 
Seven Sorrows. It is an undecided point whether 
the Adoration of the Magi took place thirteen 
days, or one year and thirteen days after the birth 
of Christ. In a series of subjects artistically ar 
ranged, the Epiphany always precedes, in order 
‘of time, that scene in the temple which is somes 
times styled the Purification, sometimes the Pres 
entation and sometimes the Nune Dimittis. They 
are three distinct incidents; but, as far as I can 
judge, neither the painters themselves, nor those 
who have named pictures, have been careful to 
disuriminate between them. On a careful exam- 
ination of various compositions, some of special 
celebrity, which are styled, in a general way, the 
Presentation in the Temple, it will appear, I think, 
that the idea uppermost in the painter’s mind has 
been to represent the prophecy of Simeon. 

No doubt, in later times, the whole scene, as a 
subject of art, was considered in reference chiefly 
to the Virgin, and the intention was to express the 
first of her Seven Sorrows. But in ancient art, 
and especially in Greek art, the character of 
Simeon assumed a singular significance and impor- 
tance, which so long as modern art was influenced 
by the traditional Byzantine types, modified, im 
some degree, the arrangement and sentiment of 
this favourite subject. 


THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE. 351 


It is related that when Ptolemy Philadelphus 
about 260 years before Christ, resolved to have 
the Hebrew Scriptures translated into Greek, for 
the purpose of placing them in his far-famed li- 
brary, he despatched messengers to Eleazar, the 
High Priest of the Jews, requiring him to send 
scribes and interpreters learned in the Jewish law 
to his court at Alexandria. Thereupon Eleazar 
selected six of the most learned Rabbis from each 
of the twelve tribes of Israel, seventy-two persons 
in all, and sent them to» Egypt, in obedience to the 
commands of King Ptolemy, and among these was 
Simeon, a priest, and a man full of learning. And 
it fell to the lot of Simeon to translate the book of 
the prophet Isaiah. And when he came to that 
verse where it is written, “ Behold a Virgin shall 
conceive and bear a son,” he began to misdoubt, in 
his own mind, how this could be possible; and, 
after long meditation, fearing to give scandal and 
offence to the Greeks, he rendered the Hebrew 
word Virgin by a Greek word which signifies merely 
a@ young woman ; but when he had written it down, 
behold an angel effaced it, and substituted the right 
word. ‘Thereupon he wrote it again and again; 
and the same thing happened three times; and he 
remained astonished and confounded. And while 
he wondered what this should mean, a ray of di- 
vine light penetrate his soul; it was revealed to 
him that the miracle which, in his human wisdom 
he had presumed to donbt, was not only possible, 
but that he, Simeon, “ should not see death till he 


552 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


had sven the Lord’s Christ.” Therefore he tarried 
on earth, by the divine will, for nearly three cen- 
turies, till that which he had disbelieved had come 
to pass. He was led by the Spirit to the temple 
on the very day when Mary came there to present 
her Son, and to make her offering, and imme 
diately, taking the Child in his arms, he exclaimed, 
“Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in 
peace, according to thy word.” And of the Vir- 
gin Mother, also, he prophesied sad and glorious 
things. 

Anna the Prophetess, who was standing by, elso 
testified to the presence of the theocratic King; but 
she did not take him in her arms, as did Simeon. 
(Luke ii. 32.) Hence, she was early regarded as 
a type of the synagogue, which prophesied great 
things of the Messiah, but, nevertheless, did not 
embrace him when he appeared, as did the Gen- 
tiles. 

That these curious legends relative to Simeon 
and Anna, and their symbolical interpretation, 
were well known to the old painters, there can be 
no doubt; and both were perhaps in the mind of 
Bishop Taylor when he wrote his eloquent chapter 
on ie Presentation. ‘There be some,” he says, 
“ who wear the name of Christ on their heads, te 
make a show to the world; and there be some whe 
have it always in their mouths; and there be some 
who carry Christ on their shoulders, as if he were 
a burthen too heavy to bear; and there be some — 
who is me! — who trample him under their feet 


THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE. 3538 


gut he is the true Christian who, like Simeon, em 
braces Christ, and takes him to his heart.” 

Now, 3: seems to me that it is distinctly the 
acknowledgment of Christ by Simeon,—that ig 
Christ received by the Gentiles, — which is in. 
tended to be placed before us in the very early 
pictures of the Presentation, or the Nunc dimittis, 
as it is always styled in Greek art. The appear: 
ance of an attendant, bearing the two turtle-doves, 
shows it to be also the so-called Purification of the 
Virgin. In an antique formal Greek version we 
have the Presentation exactly according to the pat- 
tern described by Didron. The great gold censer 
is there; the cupola, at top; Joseph carrying the 
two young pigeons, and Anna behind Simeon. 


In a celebrated composition by Fra Bartolomeo, 
there is the same disposition of the personages, but 
an additional female figure. This is not Anna, the 
mother of the Virgin (as I have heard it said), but 
probably Mary Salome, who had always attended 
on the Virgin ever since the Nativity at Bethle- 
hem. 

The subject is treated with exquisite simplicity 
by Francia; we have just the same personages as 
in the rude Greek model, but disposed with con- 
summate grace. Still, to represent the Child as 
completely undraped has been considered as a 
solecism. He ought to stretch out his hands to his 
mother and to look as if he understood the porten- 
tous words which foretold his destiny. Sometimes 


854 LEGENDS OF THF MADONNA. 


the imagination is assisted by the choice of the am 
cessories ; thus Fra Bartolomeo has given us, in 
the background of his group, Moses holding the 
broken table of the old law; and Francia represents 
in the same manner the sacrifice of Abraham; for 
thus did Mary bring her Son as an offering. In 
many pictures Simeon raises his eyes to heaven ir 
gratitude; but those painters who wished to ex- 
_ press the presence of the Divinity in the person of 
Christ, made Simeon looking at the Child, and ad» 
dressing him as “ Lord.” 


THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 


Ital. La Fuga in Egitto. Fr. La Fuite de la Sainte Famille ey 
Egypte. Ger. Die Flucht nach Mgypten. 


Tue wrath of Herod against the Magi of the 
East who had escaped from his power, enhanced 
by his fears of the divine and kingly Infant, occa- 
sioned the massacre of the Innocents, which led to 
the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt. Of the 
martyred children, in their character of martyrs, I 
have already spoken, and of their proper place in 
a scheme of ecclesiastical decoration. There is 
surely something very pathetic in that feeling 
which exalted these infant victims into objects of 
religious veneration, making them the gherished 
companions in heavenly glory of the Saviour for 
whose sake they were sacrificed on earth. He had 


THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 355 


aaid, * Suffer little children to come unto me;” ana 
to these were granted the prerogatives of pain, as ~ 
well as the privileges of innocence. If, in the day 
_ of retribution, they sit at the feet of the Redeemer, 
surely they will appeal against us, then and there ; 
— against us who, in these days, through our reck- 
less neglect, slay, body and soul, legions of inno- 
cents, — poor little unblest creatures, ‘“ martyrs by 
the pang without the palm,”— yet dare to call 
ourselves Christians. 


The Massacre of the Innocents, as an event, be- 
longs properly to the life of Christ: it is not in- 
cluded in a series of the life of the Virgin, perhaps 
from a feeling that the contrast between the most 
blessed of women and mothers, and those who wept 
distracted for their children, was too painful, and 
did not harmonize with the general subject. In 
pictures of the Flight into Egypt, I have seen it 
introduced allusively into the background; and in 
the architectural decoration of churches dedicated 
to the Virgin Mother, as Notre Dame de Chartres, it 
finds a place, but not often a conspicuous place ; * 
it is rather indicated than represented. I should 
pass over the subject altogether, best pleased to be 
spared the theme, but that there are some circum- 
stances connected with it which require elucidation, 
because we find them introduced incidentally inte 
pictures of the Flight andthe Riposo. 


*It is conspicuous and elegaatly treated >ver the door of the 
Uorenz Kirche at Nuremberg. 


856 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Thus, it is related that among the children whom 
Herod was bent on destroying, was St. John the 
Baptist ; but his mother Elizabeth fled with him te 
a desert place, and being pursued by the murderers, 
“the rock opened by a miracle, and closed upon 
Elizabeth and her child;” which means, as we 
may presume, that they took refuge in a cavern, 
and were concealed within it until the danger was 
over. Zacharias, refusing to betray his son, was 
slain “ between the temple and the altar.” (Matt. 
xxiii. 85.) Both these legends are to be met with 
in the Greek pictures, and in the miniatures of the 
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.* 

From the butchery which made so many mothers 
childless, the divine Infant and his mother were 
miraculously saved ; for an angel spoke to Joseph 
in a dream, saying, “ Arise, and take the young 
child and his mother, and flee into Egypt.” This 
is the second of the four angelic visions which are 
recorded of Joseph. It is not a frequent subject in 
early art, but is often met with in pictures of the 
later schools. Joseph is asleep in his chair, the an- 
gel stands before him, and, with a significant gesture, 
points forward —“ arise and flee!” 

There is an exquisite little composition by Ti- 
tian, called a Riposo, which may possibly represent 
the preparation for the Flight. Here Mary is 
seated under a tree nursing her Infant, while in 
the background is a sort of rude stable, in which 


* They will be found treated at length in the artistic subject 
enmnected with St. John the Baptist. 


THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 357 


Joseph is seen saddling the ass, while the ox is on 
the outside. 

In a composition by Tiarini, we see Joseph hold- 
ing the Infant, while Mary, leaning one hand on 
his shoulder, is about to mount the ass. 

In a composition by Poussin, Mary, who has just 
seated herself on the ass, takes the Child from the 
arms of Joseph. Two angels lead the ass, a tmrd 
kneels in homage, and two others are seen above 
with a curtain to pitch a tent. 


' I must notice here a tradition that both the ox 
and the ass who stood over the manger at Bethle- 
hem, accompanied the Holy Family into Egypt. 
In Albert: Durer’s print, the ox and the ass walk 
side by side. It is also related that the Virgin was 
accompanied by Salome, and Joseph by three of 
his sons. This version of the story is generally re- 
jected by the painters; but in the series by Giotto 
in the Arena at Padua, Salome gnd the three 
youths attend on Mary and Joseph; and I remem- 
ber another instance, a little picture by Lorenzo 
Monaco, in which Salome, who had vowed to ate 
tend on Christ and his mother as long as she lived, 
is seen following the ass, veiled, and supporting her 
steps with a staff. 

But this is a rare exception. The general treat- 
ment confines the greup to Joseph, the mother, and 
the Child. To Joseph was granted, in those hours 
nf distress and danger, the high privilege of provid- 
ing for the safety of the Holy Infant—a circum 


858 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


stance much enlarged upon in the old legends 
and to express this more vividly, he is sometimes 
represented in early Greek art as carrying the 
Child in his arms, or on his shoulder, while Mary 
follows on the ass. He is so figured on the sculp- 
turéd doors of the cathedral of Beneventum, and 
in the cathedral of Monreale, both executed by 
Greek artists.* But we are not to suppose that 
the Holy Family was left defenceless on the long 
journey. The angels who had charge concerning 
them were sent to guide them by day, to watch over 
them by night, to pitch their tent before them, and 
to refresh them with celestial fruit and flowers. 
By the introduction of these heavenly ministers the 
group is beautifully varied. 

Joseph, says the Gospel story, “arose by night ;” 
hence there is both meaning and propriety in those 
pictures which represent the Flight as a night- 
scene, illuminated by the moon and stars, though 
I believe this has been done more to exhibit the 
painter’s mastery over effects of dubious light, than 
as a matter of biblical accuracy. Sometimes an 
angel goes before, carrying a torch or lantern, to 
light them on the way ; sometimes it is Joseph who 
carries the lantern. 

In a picture by Nicolo Poussin, Mary walks be- 
fore, carrying the Infant; Joseph follows, leading 
the ass; and an angel guides them. 

The journey did not, however, comprise one 


* Lith century. Also at Citta di Castello same date. 


THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 359 


night only. There is, indeed, an antique tradition, 
that space and time were, on this occasion, miracu-- 
lously shortened to secure a life of so much impor- 
tance; still, we are allowed to believe that the 
journey extended over many days and nights; 
consequently it lay within the choice of the artist 
to exhibit the scene of the Flight either by night or 
by day. 

In many representations of the Flight into Egypt, 
we find in the background men sowing or cutting 
corn. This is in allusion to the following le- 
gend : — 

When it was discovered that the Holy Family 
had fled from Bethlehem, Herod sent his officers in 
pursuit of them. And it happened that when the 
Holy Family had travelled some distance, they 
came to afield where a man was sowing wheat. 
And the Virgin said to the husbandman, “Tf any 
shall ask you whether we have passed this way, ye 
shall answer, ‘ Such persons passed this way when 
I was sowing this corn.’” For the holy Virgin was 
too wise and too good to save her Son by instruct- 
ing the man to tell a falsehood. But behold, a mir- 
acle! For by the power of the Infant Saviour, m 
the space of a single night, the seed sprung up into 
stalk, blade, and ear, fit for the sickle. And next 
morning the officers of Herod came up, and in- 
guired of the husbandman, saying, “Have you 
seen an old man with a woman and a Child travel- 
ling this way?” And the man, who was reaping 
his wheat, in great wonder and admiration, replied 


860 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


“Yes.” And they asked again, “ How long is it 
since ?”” And he answered, “ When I was sowing 
this wheat.” Then the officers of Herod turned 
back, and left off pursuing the Holy Family. 

A very remarkable example of the introduction 
of this legend occurs in a celebrated picture by 
Hans Hemling (Munich Gal., Cabinet iv. 69), 
known as “ Die Sieben Freuden Marid.” In the 
background, on the left, is the Flight into Egypt; 
the men cutting and reaping corn, and the officers 
of Herod in pursuit of the Holy Family. By those 
unacquainted with the old legend, the introduction 
of the cornfield and reapers is supposed to be 
merely a decorative landscape, without any pecu- 
liar significance. 


In a very beautiful fresco by Pinturicchio, 
(Rome, St. Onofrio), the Holy Family are taking 
their departure from Bethlehem. The city, with 
the massacre of the Innocents, is seen in the back- 
ground. In the middle distance, the husbandman 
cutting corn; and nearer, the palm tree bending 
down. 


It is supposed by commentators that Joseph 
travelled from Bethlehem across the hilly country 
of Judea, taking the road to Joppa, and then pur 
suing the way along the coast. Nothing is said in 
the Gespel of the events of this long and perilous 
journey of at least 400 miles, which, in the natural 
erder of things, must have occupied five or six 


THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 861 


weeks; and the legendary traditions are verv few. 
Such as they are, however, the painters have not- 
failed to take advantage of them. 

We are told that on descending from the moun- 
tains, they came down upon a beautiful plain enam- 
elled with flowers, watered by murmuring streams, 
and shaded by fruit trees. In such a lovely land- 
scape have the painters delighted to place some of 
the scenes of the Flight into Egypt. On another 
occasion, they entered a thick forest, a wilderness 
of trees, in which they must have lost their way, 
had they not been guided by an angel. Here we 
encounter a legend which has hitherto escaped, be- 
cause, indeed, it defied, the art of the painter. As 
the Holy Family entered this forest, all the trees 
bowed themselves down in reverence to the Infant 
God; only the aspen, in her exceeding pride and 
arrogance, refused to acknowledge him, and stood 
upright. Then the Infant Christ pronounced a 
curse against her, as he afterwards cursed the bar- 
ren fig tree; and at the sound of his words the 
aspen began to tremble through all her leaves, 
and has not ceased to tremble even to this day. 

We know from Josephus the historian, that about 
this time Palestine was infested by bands of robbers. 
There is an ancient tradition, that when the Holy 
Family travelling through hidden paths and soli- 
tary defiles, nad passed Jerusalem, and were de: 
scending into the plains of Syria, they encountered 
certain thieves who fell upon them; and one of 
them would have maltreated and plundered them, 


362 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


but his comrade interfered, and said, “ Suffer them, 
I beseech thee, to go in peace, and I will give thee 
forty groats, and likewise my girdle ;” which offer 
being accepted, the merciful robber led the Holy 
Travellers to his stronghold on the rock, and gave 
them lodging for the night. (Gospel of Infancy, ch, 
viii.) And Mary said to him, “ The Lord God will 
receive thee to his right hand, and grant thee par- 
don of thy sins!” And it was so: for in after 
- times these two thieves were crucified with Christ, 
one on the right hand, and one on the left; and the 
merciful thief went with the Saviour into Paradise. 

The scene of this encounter with the robbers, 
near Ramla, is still pointed out to travellers, and 
still in evil repute as the haunt of banditti. The 
crusaders visited the spot as a place of pilgrimage 
and the Abbé Orsini considers the first part of the 
story as authenticated; but the legend concerning 
the good thief he admits to be doubtful. (Vie de la 
Ste. Vierge.) 

As an artistic subject this scene has been seldom 
treated. I have seen two pictures which represent 
it. One is a fresco by Giovanni di San Giovanni, 
which, having been cut from the wall of some sup- 
pressed convent, is now in the academy at Flor 
ence, The other is a composition by Zuccaro. 

One of the most popular legends concerning the 
Flight into Egypt is that of the palm or date tree, 
which at the command of Jesus bowed down its 
branches to shade and refresh his mother; hence 
in the scene of the Flight, a palm tree became a 


IHE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 368 


nsual accessory. In a picture by Antonelio Mel- 
lone, the Child stretches out his little hand and lays - 
hold of the branch: sometimes the branch is bent 
Jown by angel hands. Sozomenes relates, that 
when the Holy Family reached the term of their 
journey, and approached the city of Heliopolis in 
Egypt, a tree which grew before the gates of the 
city, and was regarded with great veneration as the 
seat of a god, bowed down its branches at the ap- 
proach of the Infant Christ. Likewise it is related 
(not in legends merely, but by grave religious au- 
thorities) that all the idols of the Egyptians fell 
with their faces to the earth. I have seen pictures 
of the Flight into Egypt, in which broken idols lie 
by the wayside. 


In the course of the journey the Holy Travellers 
had to cross rivers and lakes; hence the later 
painters, to vary the subject, represented them as 
embarking in a boat, sometimes steered by an angel. 
The first, as I have reason to believe, who ventured 
on this innovation, was Annibale Caracci. In 
& picture by Poussin, the Holy Family are about 
to embark. In a picture by Giordano, an angel 
with one knee bent, assists Mary to enter the boat. 
In a pretty little picture by Teniers, the Holy Fam- 
ily and the ass are seen in a boat crossing a ferry 
by moonlight; sometimes they are-crossing a bridge 

I must notice here a little picture by Adrian Van: 
der Werff, in which the Virgin, carrying her Child 
volds by the hand the old decrepit Joseph, who i 


364 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


helping her, or rather is heiped by her, to pass 
torrent on some stepping-stones. ‘This is quite com 
trary to the feeling of the old authorities, whick 
represent Joseph as the vigilant and capable guar- 
dian of the Mother and her Child; but it appears 
to have here a rather particular and touching sig- 
nificance ; it was painted by Vander Werff for his 
daughter in his old age, and intended to express 
ner filial duty and his paternal care. 

The most beautiful Flight into Egypt I have ever 
seen, is a composition by Gaudenzio Ferrari. The 
Virgin is seated and sustained on the ass with a quite 
peculiar elegance. The Infant, standing on her 
knee, seems to point out the way; an angel leads 
the ass, and Joseph follows with the staff and wallet. 
In the background the palm tree inclines its branch- 
es. (At Varallo, in the church of the Minorites.) 

Claude has introduced the Flight of the Holy 
Family as a landscape group into nine different 
pictures. 


THE REPOSE OF THE HOLY FAMILY. 


Ital. TL Riposo. Fr. Le Repos de la Sainte Famille. Ger. Die 
Ruhe in Aigypten. 


THE subject generally styled a “ Riposo” is one 
of the most graceful and most attractive in the whole 
range of Christian art. It is not, however, an an- 
cient subject, for I cannot recall an instance earlier 
than the sixteenth century; it had in its accessories 


a 


THH REPOS¢ IN EGYPT. 364 


shat romantic and pastoral character which recom- 
mended it to the Venetians and to the landscape. . 
painters of the seventeenth century, and among 
these we must look for the most successful and 
beautiful examples. 

I must begin by observing that it is a subject not 
only easily mistaken by those who have studied 
pictures; but perpetually misconceived and mis- 
represented by the painters themselves. Some 
pictures which erroneously bear this title, were 
never intended to do. so. Others, intended to 
represent the scene, are disfigured and perplexed 
by mistakes arising either from the ignorance or 
the carelessness of the artist. 

We must bear in mind that the Riposo, properly 
so called, is not merely the Holy Family seated in 
a landscape; it is an episode of the Flight into 
Egypt, and is either the rest on the journey, or at 
the close of the journey; quite different scenes, 
though all go by the same name. It is not an ideal 
religious group, but a reality, a possible and actual 
scene ; and it is clear that the painter, if he thought 
at all, and did not merely set himself to fabricate a 
pretty composition, was restricted within the limits 
of the actual and possible, at least according to the 
histories and traditions of the time. Some of the 
accessories introduced would stamp the intention at 
once ; as the date tree, and Joseph gathering dates; 
the ass feeding in the distance ; the wallet and pil- 
grim’s staff laid beside Joseph; the fallen idols; 
the Virgin scooping water from a fountain; for all 

24 


366 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


these are incidents which properly belong to the 
Riposo. 

It is nowhere recorded, either in Scripture or in 
ihe legendary stories, that Mary and Joseph in their 
flight were accompanied by Elizabeth and the little 
St. John ; therefore, where either of these are in- 
troduced, the subject is not properly a Riposo, 
whatever the intention of the painter may have 
been: the personages ought to be restricted to the 
Virgin, her Infant, and St. Joseph, with attendant 
angels. An old woman is sometimes introduced, 
the same who is traditionally supposed to have ac- 
companied them in their flight. If this old woman 
be manifestly St. Anna or St. Elizabeth, then it is 
not a Riposo, but merely a Holy Family. 

It is related that the Holy Family finally rested, 
after their long journey, in the village of Matarea, 
beyond the city of Hermopolis (or Heliopolis), and 
took up their residence in a grove of sycamores, a 
circumstance which gave the sycamore tree a sort 
of religious interest in early Christian times. The 
crusaders imported it into Europe; and poor Mary 
Stuart may have had this idea, or this feeling 
when she brought from France, and planted in her 
garden, the first syecamores which grew in Scotland 

Near to this village of Matarea, a fountain mirac- 
ulously sprung up for the refreshment of the Hol: 
Family. It still exists, as we are informed by 
travellers, and is still styled by the Arabs, “ The 
Fountain of Mary.”* This fountain is frequent; 

* The site of this fountain is about four miles N. E. of Cairo 


i i 


THE REPOSE IN EGYPT. $67 


represented, as in the well-known Riposo by Cor- 
regoio, where the Virgin 1s dipping a bowl into the- 
gushing stream, hence called the “ Madonna del- 
ta Scodella” (Parma): in another by Baroccio 
(Grosvenor Gal.), and another by Domenichino 
(Louvre, 491). 

In this fountain, says another legend, Mary 
washed the linen of the Child. There are several 
pictures which represent the Virgin washing linen 
in a fountain ; for example, one by Lucio Massari, 
where, in a charming landscape, the little Christ 
takes the linen out of a basket, and Joseph hangs it 
on a line todry. (Florence Gal.) 

The ministry of the angels is here not only allow- 
able, but beautifully appropriate; and never has 
it been more felicitously and more gracefully 
expressed than in a little composition by Lucas 
Cranach, where the Virgin and her Child repose 
under a tree, while the angels dance in a cir- 
cle round them. The cause of the Flight — the 
Massacre of the Innocents —is figuratively ex- 
pressed by two winged boys, who, seated on a 
bough of the tree, are seen robbing a nest, and 
wringing the necks of the nestlings, while the par- 
ent-birds scream and flutter over their heads: 
in point of taste, this significant allegory had been 
better omitted; it spoils the harmony of composi- 
tion. There is another similar group, quite as 
graceful, by David Hopfer. Vandyck seems to 
have had both in his nemory wher he designed 
the very beautiful Riposo so ofter copied and en- 


368 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


graved (Coll. of Lord Ashburton): here the Vir 
gin is seated under a tree, in an open landscape, 
and holds her divine Child; Joseph, behind, seems 
asleep ; in front of the Virgin, eight lovely angels 
dance in a round, while others, seated 1 in the sky, 
make, heavenly music. 

In another singular and charming Riposo by 
Lucas Cranach, the Virgin and Child are seated 
under a tree; to the left of the group is a fountain, 
where a number of little angels appear to be wash- 
ing linen ; to the right, Joseph approaches leading 
the ass, and in the act of reverently removing his 
cap. 

There is a Riposo by Albert Durer which I can- 
not pass over. It is touched with all that homely 
domestic feeling, and at the same time all that fer- 
tility of fancy, which are so characteristic of that 
extraordinary man. We are told that when Jo- 
seph took up his residence at Matarea in Egypt, 
he provided for his wife and Child by exercising 
his trade as a carpenter. In this composition he 
appears in the foreground dressed as an artisan 
with an apron on, and with an axe in his hand is 
shaping a plank of wood. Mary sits on one side 
spinning with her distaff, and watching her Infant 
slumbering in its cradle. Around this domestic 
group we have a crowd of ministering angels 
some of these little winged spirits are assisting Jo- 
seph, sweeping up the chips and gathering them 
into baskets ; others are merely “ sporting at their 
ywn sweet will.” Several more dignified-looking 


THE REPOSE IN EGYPT. 36$ 


angels, having the air of guardian spirits, stand or 
kneel round the cradle, bending over it with folded _ 
hands.* 

In a Riposo by Titian, the Infant lies on a pillow 
on the ground, and the Virgin is kneeling before 
him, while Joseph leans on his pilgrim's staff, ts 
which is suspended a wallet. In another, two an- 
gels, kneeling, offer fruits in a basket; in the dise 
tance, a little angel waters the ass at a stream, 
(All these are engraved.) 

The angels, according to the legend, not only 
ministered to the Holy Family, but pitched a tent 
nightly, in which they were sheltered. Poussin, in 
an exquisite picture, has represented the Virgin 
and Child reposing under a curtain suspended 
from the branches of a tree and partly sustained 
by angels, while others, kneeling, offer fruit. 
(Grosvenor Gal.) 

Poussin is the only painter who has attempted 
to express the locality. In one of his pictures the 
Holy Family reposes on the steps of an Egyptian 
temple ; a sphinx and a pyramid are visible in the 
background. In another Riposo by the same 
master, an Ethiopian boy presents fruits to the 
Infant Christ. Joseph ‘s frequently asleep, which 
is hardly consonant with the spirit of the older 
legends. It is, however, a beautiful idea to make 
the Child and Joseph both reposing, while the 
Virgin Mother, with eyes upra’sed to heaven, 
wakes and watches, as in a picture by Mola 

*In the famous set of wood cits of tue Life of the Virgin Mary 


B70 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


(Louvre, 269); but a yet more beautiful idea te 
represent the Virgin and Joseph sunk in sleep, 
while the divine Infant lying in his mother’s arms 
wakes and watches for both, with his little hands 
joined in prayer, and his eyes fixed on the hover- 
ing angels or the opening skies above. 

In a Riposo by Rembrandt, the Holy Family 
vest by night, and are illuminated only by a lan- 
tern suspended on the bough of a tree, the whole 
group having much the air of a gypsy encampment. 
But one of Rembrandt’s imitators has in his own 
way improved on this fancy: the Virgin sleeps on 
a bank with the Child on her bosom; Joseph, whe 
looks extremely like an old tinker, is doubling his 
fist at the ass, which has opened its mouth to 
bray. 


Before quitting the subject of the Riposo, I must 
mention a very pretty and poetical legend, which 
I have met with in one picture only ; a description 
of it may, however, lead to the recognition of 
others. 

There is, in the collection of Lord Shrewsbury, at 
Alton Towers, a Riposo attributed to Giorgione, re- 
markable equally for the beauty and the singularity 
of the treatment. The Holy Family are seated in 
the midst of a wild but rich landscape, quite in the 
Venetian style ; Joseph is asleep; the two children 
tre playing with a lamb. The Virgin, seated 
aolds a book, and turns round, with an expressiov 


THE REPOSE IN EGYPT. 371 


af surprise and alarm, to a female figure who 
stands on the right. This woman has a dark phys- 
iognomy, ample flowing drapery of red and white, 
a white turban twisted round her head, and 
stretches out her hand with the air o a sibyl. 
The explanation of this striking group I found in 
an old ballad-legend. Every one who has studied 
the moral as well as the technical character of the 
various schools of art, must have remarked how of- 
ten the Venetians (and Giorgione more especially) 
painted groups from the popular fictions and ballads 
of the time; and it has often been regretted that 
many of these pictures are becoming unintelligible 
to us from our having lost the key to them, in losing 
all trace of the fugitive poems or tales which sug- 
gested them. 

The religious ballad I allude to must have been 
popular in the sixteenth century ; it exists in the 
Provencal dialect, in German, and in Italian; and, 
like the wild ballad of St. John Chrysostom, it prob- 
ably came in some form or other from the East. 
The theme is, in all these versions, substantially the 
same. ‘The Virgin, on her arrival in Egypt, is 
encountered by a gypsy (Zingara or Zingarella), 
who crosses the Child’s palm after the gypsy man- 
ner, and foretells all the wonderful and terrible 
things which, as the Redeemer of mankind, he was 
Hestined to perform and endure on earth. 

An Italian version which lies before me is en- 
titled, Canzonetta nuova, sopra la Madonna, quando 
si partd in Egitto col Bambino Gesi e San Giw 


$72 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


seppe, “ A new Ballad of our Lady, when sha 
fled into Egypt with the Child Jesus and St 
Joseph.” 

It begins with a conversation between the Virgin, 
who has just arrived from her long journey, ana 
the gypsy-woman, who thus salutes her : — 


ZINGARELLA. 


Dio ti salvi, bella Signora, 
E ti dia buona ventura. 
Ben venuto, vecchiarello, 
Con questo bambino bello! 


MADONNA. 


Ben trovata, sorella mia, 
La sua grazia Dio ti dia. 
Ti perdoni i tuoi peccati 
L’ infinité sua bontade. 


ZINGARELLA. 


Siete stanchi e meschini, 
Credo, poveri pellegrini 
Che cercate d’ alloggiare. 
Vuoi, Signora, scavalcare ? 


MADONNA. 


Voi che siete, sorella mia, 
Tutta piena di cortesia, 
Dio vi renda la carita 

Per I’ infinita sua borta. 
Noi veniam da Nazaretto, 
Siamo senza alcur ricette, 
Arrivati all’ strania 
Stanchi e tassi dalla via! 


THE REPOSE IN EGYPT. $78 


GYPSY. 


God save thee, fair Lady, and give thee good luck 
Welcome, good old man, with this thy fair Child! 


Mary. 


Well met, sister mine! God give thee grace, and of 
his infinite mercy forgive thee thy sins! 


GYPSY. 


Ye are tired and drooping, poor pilgrims, as I think, 
seeking a night’s lodging. Lady, wilt thou choose to 
alight ? 

Mary. 

O sister mine! full of courtesy, God of his infinite good- 
ness reward thee for thy charity. We are come from 
Nazareth, and we are without a place to lay our heads, 
arrived in a strange land, all tired and weary with the 
way | 


The Zingarella then offers them a resting-place, 
and straw and fodder for the ass, which being ac- 
cepted, she asks leave to tell their fortune, but 
begins by recounting, in about thirty stanzas, all 
the past history of the Virgin pilgrim; she then 
asks to see the Child — 


Ora tu, Signora mia. 
Che sei piena di cortesia, 
Mostramelo per favore 
Lo tuo Figlio Redentore! 


And now, O Lady mine, that art full of courtesy, grant 
we to look upon thy Son, the Redeemer! 


B74 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


The Virgin takes him from the arms of Joseph— 


Datemi, 0 caro sposo, 

Lo mio Figlio grazioso! 
Quando il vide sta meschina 
Zingarella, che indovina! 


Give me, dear husband, my lovely boy, that this poor 
gypsy, who is a prophetess, may look upon him. 


The gypsy responds with becoming admiration 
and humility, praises the beauty of the Child, and 
then proceeds to examine his palm; which having 
done, she breaks forth into a prophecy of all the 
awful future, tells how he would be baptized, and 
tempted, scourged, and finally hung upon a cross — 


Questo Figlio accarezzato 
Tu lo vedrai ammazzato 
Sopra d’ una dura croce, 
Figlio bello! Figlio dolce! 


but consoles the disconsolate Mother, doomed te 
honour for the sake of us sinners — 


Sei arrivata a tanti onori 
Per noi altri Peccatori! 


and ends ty begging an alms — 


Non ti vo’ pit infastidire, 

Bella Signora; so ch’ hai a fare. 
Dona la limosinella 

A sta povera Zingarella 


THE RETURN FROM EGYPT. 375 


But not alms of gold or of silver, but the gift of 
true repentance and eternal life. 


Vo’ una vera contrizione 
Per la tua intercezione, 
Accio st’ alma dopo morte 
Tragga alle celesti porte! 


And so the story ends. 

There can be no doubt, I think, that we have 
here the original theme of Giorgione’s picture, and 
perhaps of others. 

In the Provengal ballad, there are three gypsies, 
men, not women, introduced, who tell the fortune of 
the Virgin and Joseph, as well as that of the Child, 
and end by begging alms “to wet their thirsty 
throats.” Of this version there is a very spirited 
and characteristic translation by Mr. Kenyon, un- 
der the title of “a Gypsy Carol.” * 


THE RETURN FROM EGYPT. 


AccorDING to some authorities, the Holy Family 
sojourned in Egypt during a period of seven years, 
but others assert that they returned to Judea at the 
und of two years. 

In general the painters have expressed the Re- 
tarn from Egypt by exhibiting Jesus as no longer 
an infant sustained in his mother’s arms, but as a 
voy walking at her side. In a picture by Francesca 


% A Day at Tivoli, with other Verses, by John Kenyon, p. 149 


876 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Vanni, he is a boy about two or three years old,, 
and carries a little basket full of carpenter’s tools. 
The occasion of the Flight and Return is indicated 
by three or four of the martyred Innocents, who 
are lying on the ground. In a picture by Do- 
menico Feti two of the Innocents are lying dead 
on the roadside. In a very graceful, animated 
picture by Rubens, Mary and Joseph lead the 
young Christ between them, and the Virgin wears 
a large straw hat. 


HISTORICAL SUBJECTS. 


PART III. 


THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN MARY FROM 
THE SOJOURN IN EGYPT TO THE 
CRUCIFIXION OF OUR LORD. 


1. THE HOLY FAMILY. 2. THE VIRGIN SEEKS 
HER SON. 8. THE DEATH OF JOSEPH. 4. THE 
MARRIAGE AT CANA. 5. “LO SPASIMO.” 6. THE 
CRUCIFIXION. 7. THE DESCENT FROM THE 
CROSS. 8. THE ENTOMBMENT. 


THE HOLY FAMILY. 


W3aEN the Holy Family under divine protection, 
had returned safely from their sojourn in Egypt, 
they were about to repair to Bethlehem; but Jo- 
seph hearing that Archelaus “ did reign in Judea 
m the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to 
go thither; and being warned of God in a dream, 
he turned aside into Galilee,” and came to the city 
of Nazareth, which was the native place and home 
of the Virgin Mary. Here Joseph dwelt, following 
in peace his trade of a carpenter, and bringing up 
his reputed Son to the.same craft: and here Mary 
nurtured her divine Child; “and he grew and 
waxed strong in spirit, and the grace of God wag 


878 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


upon him.” No other event is recorded until Jesus 
had reached his twelfth year. 


This, then, is the proper place to introduce some 
notiee of those representations of the domestic life 
of the Virgin and the infancy of the Saviour, which, 
in all their endless variety, pass under the general 
title of Tux Hoty Famity — the beautiful title 
of a beautiful subject, addressed in the loveliest 
and most familiar form at once to the piety and the 
affections of the beholder. 

These groups, so numerous, and of such perpet- 
ual recurrence, that they alone form a large pro- 
portion of the contents of picture galleries and the 
ornaments of churches, are, after all, a modern in- 
novation in sacred art. What may be called the 
domestic treatment of the history of the Virgin can- 
not be traced farther back than the middle of the 
fifteenth century. It is, indeed, common to class 
all those pictures as Holy Families which include 
any of the relatives of Christ grouped with the 
Mother and her Child; but I must here recapitu- 
late and insist upon the distinction to be drawn be- 
tween the domestic and the devotional treatment 
of the subject; a distinction I have been careful 
to keep in view throughout the whole range of 
sacred art, and which, in this particular subject, 
depends on a difference in sentiment and inten- 
tion, more easily felt than set down in words. 

It is, I must repeat, a devotional group where the 


THE HOLY FAMILY. 37§ 


sacred personages are placed in direct relation to the 
worshippers, and where their supernatural character . 
is paramount to every other. It is a domestic or an 
historical group, a Holy Family properly so called, 
when the personages are placed in direct relation 
to each other by some link of action or sentiment, 
which expresses the family connection between 
them, or by some action which has a dramatic 
rather than a religious significance. The Italians 
draw this distinction in the title “ Sacra Conversa- 
zione” given to the first-named subject, and that of 
“ Sacra Famiglia” given to the last. For instance, 
if the Virgin, watching her sleeping Child, puts 
her finger on her lip to silence the little St. John ; 
there is here no relation between the spectator and 
the persons represented, except that of unbidden 
sympathy : it is a family group; a domestic scene. 
But if St. John, looking out of the picture, points 
to the Infant, ‘“ Behold the Lamb of God!” then 
the whole representation changes its significance ; 
St. John assumes the character of precursor, and 
we, the spectators, are directly addressed and called 
upon to acknowledge the “Son of God, the Saviour 
of mankind.” 

If St. Joseph, kneeling. presents flowers to the 
Infant Christ, while Mary looks on tenderly (as in 
a group by Raphael), it is an act of homage which 
expresses the mutual relation of the three person 
ages; it is a Holy Family: whereas, in the picture 
by Murillo, in our National Gallery, where Joseph 
and Mary present the young Redeemer to the hom 


380 LEGENDS OF TH® MADONNA. 


age of the spectator, while the form of the PADRE 
Ererno, and the Holy Spirit, with attendant 
angels, are floating above, we have a devotional 
group, a “ Sacra Conversazione :” —it is, in fact, 
a material representation of the Trinity ; and thn 
intreduction of Joseph into such immediate propin- 
quity with the personages acknowledged as divine 
is one of the characteristics of the later schools of 
theological art. It could not possibly have occurred 
before the end of the sixteenth or the beginning of 
the seventeenth century. 

The introduction of persons who could not have 
been contemporary, as St. Francis or St. Cathe- 
rine, renders the group ideal and devotional. On 
the other hand, as I have already observed, the in- 
troduction of attendant angels does not place the 
subject out of the domain of the actual; for the 
painters literally rendered what in the Scripture 
text is distinctly set down and literally interpreted, 
“ He shall give his angels charge concerning thee.” 
Wherever lived and moved the Infant Godhead, 
angels were always supposed to be present; there- 
fore it lay within the province of an art addressed 
especially to our senses, to place them bodily before 
us, and to give to these heavenly attendants a visi- 
ble shape and bearing worthy of their blessed min- 
istry. 

The devotional groups, of which I have already 
treated most fully, even while placed by the acces 
sories quite beyond the range of actual life, have been 
too often vulgarized and formalized by a trivial oy 


THE HOLY FAMILY. — $8) 


merely conventional treatment.* In these really 
domestic scenes, where the painter sought unre- _ 
proved his models in simple nature, and trusted 
for his effect to what was holiest and most immuta- 
ble in our common humanity, he must have been a 
bungler indeed if he did not succeed in touching 
some responsive chord of sympathy in the bosom 
of the observer. This is, perhaps, the secret of the 
universal, and, in general, deserved popularity of 
these Holy Families. 


TWO FIGURES. 


The simplest form of the family group is confined 
to two figures, and expresses merely the relation 
between the Mother and the Child. The motif is 
precisely the same as in the formal, goddess-like, 
enthroned Madonnas of the antique time; but here 
quite otherwise worked out, and appealing to other 
sympathies. In the first instance, the intention was 
to assert the contested pretensions of the human 
mother to divine honours; here it was rather to 
assert the humanity of her divine Son; and we 
have before us, in the simplest form, the first and 
holiest of all the social relations. 

The primal instinct, as the first duty, of the 
mother, is the nourishment of the life she has given. 
a very common subject, therefore, is Mary in the 


* See the ‘* Mater Amabilis ” and the “ Pastoral Madonnas,” 
». 229, 239. 


25 


882 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


act of feeding her Child from her bosom. I have 
already observed that, when first adopted, this was 
a theological theme ; an answer, in form, to the 
challenge of the Nestorians, “Shall we call him 
God, who hath sucked his mother’s breast ?” Then, 
and. for at least 500 years afterwards, the simple 
maternal action involved a religious dogma, and 
was the visible exponent of a controverted article 
of faith. All such controversy had long ceased, 
and certainly there was no thought of insisting on 
a point of theology in the minds of those secular 
painters of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 
who have set forth the representation with such 
an affectionate and delicate grace; nor yet in the 
minds of those who converted the lovely group into 
a moral lesson. For example, we find in the works 
of Jeremy Taylor (one of the lights of our Prot- 
estant Church) a long homily “ Of nursing chil- 
dren, in imitation of the blessed Virgin Mother ;” 
and prints and pictures of the Virgin thus occupied 
often bear significant titles and inscriptions of the 
same import; such as “Le prémier devoir d’une 
mére,” &c. 

I do not find this motifin any known picture by 
Raphael; but in one of his designs, engraved by 
Mare Antonio, it is represented with characteristic 
grace and delicacy. 

Goethe describes with delight a picture by Cor 
regoio, in which the attention of the Child seems 
divided between the bosom of his mother, and some 
fruit offered by an angel. He calls this subjeq 


THE HOLY FAMILY. 883 


“ The Weaning of the Infant Christ.” Correggio, 
if not the very first, is certainly among the first of 
the Italians who treated this motif in the simple 
domestic style. Others of the Lombard school fol- 
lowed him ; and I know not a more exquisite ex- 
ample than the maternal group by Solario, now in 
the Louvre, styled La Vierge a l’Oreiller werd, from 
the colour of the pillow on which the Child is lying. 
The subject is frequent in the contemporary Ger- 
man and Flemish schools of the sixteenth century. 
In the next century, there are charming examples 
by the Bologna painters and the Naturalisti, Span- 
ish, Italian, and Flemish. I would particularly 
point to one by Agostino Caracci (Parma), and 
to another by Vandyck (that engraved by Barto- 
lozzi), as examples of elegance ; while in the nu- 
merous specimens by Rubens we have merely his 
own wife and son, painted with all that coarse 
vigorous life, and homely affectionate expression, 
which his own strong domestic feelings could lend 
them. 

We have in other pictures the relation between 
the Mother and Child expressed and varied in a 
thousand ways; as where she contemplates him 
fondly — kisses him, pressing his cheeks to hers; 
or they sport with a rose, or an apple, or a bird; 
or he presents it to his mother; these originally 
mystical emblems being converted into playthings. 
In another sketch she is amusing him by tinkling a 
bell : — the bell, which has a religious significance, 
w here a plaything. Qne or more attendant angels 


B84 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


may vary the group, without taking it out of the 
sphere of reality. In a quaint but charming pic- 
ture in the Wallerstein Collection, an angel is 
sporting with the Child at his mother’s feet — 
is literally his playfellow; and in a picture by 
Cambiaso, Mary, assisted by an angel, is teach 
ing her Child to walk. 


To represent in the great enthroned Madonnas, 
the Infant Saviour of the world asleep, has always 
appeared to me a solecism: whereas in the domes- 
tic subject, the Infant slumbering on his mother’s 
knee, or cradled in her arms, or on her bosom, or 
rocked by angels, is amost charming subject. Some 
times angels are seen preparing his bed, or looking 
on while he sleeps, with folded hands and overshad- 
owing wings. Sometimes Mary hangs over his pil- 
low, “ pondering in her heart” the wondrous des- 
tinies of her Child. A poetess of our own time has 
given us an interpretation worthy of the most beau- 
tiful of these representations, in the address of 
the Virgin Mary to the Child Jesus, —“ Sleepy 
sleep, mine Holy One!” 


*‘ And are thou come for saving, baby-browed 
And speechless Being? art thou come for saving? 
The palm that grows beside our door is bowed 
By treadings of the low wind from the south, 
A restless shadow through the chamber waving. 
Upon its bough a bird sings in the sun. 
But thou, with that close slumber on thy mouth, 
Dost seem of wind and sun already weary. 
Art come for saving, O my weary One? 


THE HOLY FAMILY. 383 


*Perchance tkis sleep that shutteth out the dreary 
Karth-sounds ani motions, opens on thy soul 
High dreams on fire with God; 
High songs that make the pathways where they roll 
More bright than stars do theirs; and vis‘ons new 
Of thine eternal nature’s old abode. 
Suffer this mother’s kiss, 
Best thing that earthly is, 
To glide the music and the glory through, 
Nor narrow in thy dream the broad upliftings 
Of any seraph wing. 
Thus, noiseless, thus !|—Sleep, sleep, my dreaming One.”’* 


Such high imaginings might be suggested by the 
group of Michael Angelo, —his famous “ Silenzio:” 
but very different certainly are the thoughts and 
associations conveyed by some of the very lovely, 
but at the same time familiar and commonplace, 
proups of peasant-mothers and sleeping babies — 
the countless productions of the later schools — 
even while the simplicity and truth of the natural 
sentiment go straight to the heart. 

I remember reading a little Italian hymn com- 
posed for a choir of nuns, and addressed to the 
sleeping Christ, in which he is prayed to awake 
or if he will not, they threaten to pull him by his 
golden curls until they rouse him to listen ! 


I have seen a graceful print which represents 
Jesus as a child standing at his mother’s knee, 
while she feeds him from a plate or cup held by an 
wgel; underneath is the text, “ Butter and honey 

* Poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, vol. ii. p. 174 


386 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and 
choose the good.” And in a print of the same 
period, the mother suspends her needlework to 
contemplate the Child, who, standing at her side, 
looks down compassionately on two little birds, 
which flutter their wings and open their beaks 
expectingly ; underneath is the text, “Are not 
two sparrows sold for a farthing ?” 

Mary employed in needlework, while her cra- 
- dled Infant slumbers at her side, is a beautiful 
subject. Rossini, in his Storia della Pittura, pub- 
lishes a group, representing the Virgin mending or 
making a little coat, while Jesus, seated at her feet 
without his coat, is playing with a bird ; two angels 
are hovering above. It appears to me that there 
is here some uncertainty as regards both the subject 
and the master. In the time of Giottino, to whom 
Rossini attributes the picture, the domestic treat- 
ment of the Madonna and Child was unknown. 
If it be really by him, I should suppose it to rep- 
resent Hannah and her son Samuel. 


All these, and other varieties of action and sen- 
timent connecting the Mother and her Child, are 
frequently accompanied by accessory figures, form- 
ing, in their combination, what is properly a Holy 
Family. The personages introduced, singly or to- 
gether, are the young St. John, Joseph, Anna 
Joachim, Elizabeth, and Zacharias. 


THE HOLY FAMILY. 387 


THREE FIGURES. 


The group of three figures most commonly met 
with, is that of the Mother and Child, with St. 
John. One of the earliest examples of the do- 
mestic treatment of this group is a quaint picture 
by Botticelli, in which Mary, bending down, holds 
forth the Child to be caressed by St. John, — very 
dry in colour and faulty in drawing, but beautiful 
for the sentiment. (Florence, Pitti Pal.) Perhaps 
the most perfect example which could be cited from 
the whole range of art, is Raphael’s “ Madonna 
del Cardellino” (Florence Gal.); another is his 
“ Belle Jardiniere” (Louvre, 375); another, in 
which the figures are half-length, is his “ Madonna 
del Giglio” (Lord Garvagh’s Coll.). As I have 
already observed, where the Infant Christ takes 
the cross from St. John, or presents it to him, or 
where St. John points to him as the Redeemer, or 
is represented, not as a child, but as a youth or a 
man, the composition assumes a devotional signifi- 
cance. 

The suvyect of the Sleeping Christ is beautifully 
varied by the introduction of St. John; as where 
Mary lifts the veil and shows her Child to the little 
St. John, kneeling with folded hands: Raphael’s 
well-known “ Vierge & la Diadéme ” is an instance 
replete with grace and expression.* Sometimes 
Mary, putting her finger to her lip, exhorts St 

* Louvre, 876. It is also styed la Vierge au Linge 


388 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


John to silence, as in a famous and oft-repeated 
subject by Annibale Caracci, of which there is a 
rovely example at Windsor. Such a group is called 
in Italian, JZ Silenzio, and in French le Sommeil de 
Jésus. 


Another group of three figures consists of the 
Mother, the Child, and St. Joseph as foster-father. 
This group, so commonly met with in the later 
schools of art, dates from the end of the fifteenth 
century. Gerson, an ecclesiastic distinguished at 
the Council of Constance for his learning and elo- 
quence, had written a poem of three thousand lines 
in praise of St. Joseph, setting him up as the Chris- 
tian example of every virtue; and this poem, after 
the invention of printing, was published and widely 
disseminated. Sixtus IV. instituted a festival in 
honour of the “ Husband of the Virgin,” which, as 
a novelty and harmonizing with the tone of popular 
feeling, was everywhere acceptable. As a natural 
consequence, the churches and chapels were filled 
with pictures, which represented the Mother and 
her Child, with Joseph standing or seated by, in an 
attitude of religious contemplation or affectionate 
sympathy ; sometimes leaning on his stick, or with 
his tools lying beside him; and always in the old 
pictures habited in his appropriate colours, the 
saffron-coloured robe over the gray or green 
tunic. 

In the Madonna and Child, as « strictly devo- 
Yonal subject, the introduction of Joseph rathe, 


THE HOLY FAMILY. 889 


rompiicates the idea; but in the domestic Holy 
Family his presence is natural and necessary. I, _ 
is seldom that he is associated with the action, 
where there is one; but of this also there are some 
beautiful examples. 


1. In a well-known composition by Raphael 
(Grosvenor Gal.), the mother withdraws the cov- 
ering from the Child, who seems to have that 
moment awaked, and, stretching out his little arms, 
smiles in her face: Joseph looks on tenderly and 
thoughtfully. 

2. In another group by Raphael (Bridgewater 
Gal.), the Infant is seated on the mother’s knee, 
and sustained by part of her veil; Joseph, kneel- 
ing, offers flowers to his divine foster-Son, whe 
eagerly stretches out his little hand to take them. 

In many pictures, Joseph is seen presenting 
therries; as in the celebrated Vierge aux Cerises 
of Annibale Caracci. (Louvre.) The allusion is to 
a quaint old legend, often introduced in the relig- 
ious ballads and dramatic mysteries of the time. 
It is related, that before the birth of our Saviour, 
the Virgin Mary wished to taste of certain cher- 
ries which hung upon a tree high above her head; 
she requested Josep to procure them for her, and 
he reaching to pluck them, the branch bowed down 
to his hand. 

3. There is a lovely pastoral composition by 
Titian, in which Mary is seated under some trees, 
with Joseph leaning on his sta‘t, and the Infant 


890 IEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Christ standing between them: the little St. John 
approaches with his lap full of cherries; and in 
the background a woman is seen gathering cher- 
ries. This picture is called a Riposo; but the 
presence of St. John, and the cherry tree instead 
of the date tree, point out a different signification. 
Angels presenting cherries on a plate is also @ 
frequent circumstance, derived from the same le- 
gend. 

4. In a charming picture by Garofalo, Joseph is 
caressing the Child, while Mary —a rather full 
figure, calm, matronly, and dignified, as is usual 
with Garofalo — sits by, holding a book in her 
hand, from which she has just raised her eyes. 
(Windsor Gal.) 

5. In a family group by Murillo, Joseph, stand- 
ing, holds the Infant pressed to his bosom; while 
Mary, seated near a cradle, holds out her arms to 
take it from him: a carpenter’s bench is seen be- 
hind. 

6. A celebrated picture by Rembrandt, known 
as le Ménage du Menuisier, exhibits a rustic inte- 
rior; the Virgin is seated with the volume of the 
Scriptures open on her knees — she turns, and lift- 
ing the coverlid of the cradle, contemplates the 
Infant asleep: in the background Joseph is seen 
at his work; while angels hover above, keeping 
watch over the Holy Family. Exquisite for the 
nomely natural sentiment, and the depth of the 
solour and chiaro-oscuro. (Petersburg.) 

7 Many who read these pages will remember 


THE HOLY FAMILY. 391 


the pretty little picture by Annibale Caracci, known 
as “le Raboteur.”* It represents Joseph planing ~ 
a board, while Jesus, a lovely boy about six or 
seven years old, stands by, watching the progress 
of his work. Mary is seated on one side plying 
her needle. The grea. fault of this picture is the 
subordinate and utterly commonplace character 
given to the Virgin Mother: otherwise it is a very 
suggestive and dramatic subject, and one which 
might be usefully engraved in a cheap form for 
distribution. 


Sometimes, in a Holy Family of three figures, the 
third figure is neither St. John nor St. Joseph, but 
St. Anna. Now, according to some early authori- 
ties, both Joachim and Anna died either before the 
marriage of Mary and Joseph, or at least before 
the return from Egypt. Such, however, was the 
popularity of these family groups, and the desire to 
give them all possible variety, that the ancient ver- 
sion of the story was overruled by the prevailing 
taste, and St. Anna became an important person- 
age. One of the earliest groups in which ths 
mother of the Virgin is introduced as a third per- 
sonage, is a celebrated, but to my taste not a pleas- 
ing, composition, by Lionardo da Vinci, in which 
St. Anna is seated on a sort of chair, and the Vir 
gin on her knees bends down towards the Infant 
Christ, who is sporting with a lamb. (Louvre, 
481.) 

* In the Coll. of the Earl of Suffolk, at Charlton. 


B92 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


FOUR FIGURES. 


In a Holy Family of four figures, we have fre: 
quently the Virgin, the Child, and the infant St. 
John, with St. Joseph standing by. Raphael’s 
Madonna del Passeggio is an example. In a pic 
ture by Palma Vecchio, St. John presents a lamb, 
while St. Joseph kneels before the Infant Christ, 
who, seated on his mother’s knee, extends his arms 
to his foster-father. Nicold Poussin was fond of 
this group, and has repeated it at least ten times 
with variations. 

But the most frequent group of four figures con- 
sists of the Virgin and Child, with St. John and his 
mother, St. Elizabeth — the two mothers and the 
two sons. Sometimes the children are sporting 
together, or embracing each other, while Mary and 
Elizabeth look on with a contemplative tenderness, 
or seem to converse on the future destinies of their 
sons. A very favourite and appropriate action is 
that of St. Elizabeth presenting St. John, and 
teaching him to kneel and fold his hands, as ae- 
knowledging in his little cousin the Infant Sav- 
iour. We have then, in beautiful contrast, the 
aged coifed head of Elizabeth, with its matronly 
and earnest expression; the youthful bloom and 
soft virginal dignity of Mary; and the different 
character of the boys, the fair complexion and 
delicate proportions of the Infant Christ, and the 
more robust and brown-complexioned John. A 


THE HOLY FAMILY. 393 


great painter will be careful to express these dis. 
tinctions, not by the exterior character only, but 
will so combine the personages, that the action rep- 
resented shall display the superior dignity of Christ 
and his mother. 


FIVE OR SIX FIGURES. 


The addition of Joseph as a fifth figure, com- 
pletes the domestic group. The introduction of 
the aged Zacharias renders, however, yet more full 
and complete, the circle of human life and human 
affection. We have then, infancy, youth, matu- 
rity, and age, — difference of sex and various de- 
grees of relationship, combined into one harmo 
nious whole; and in the midst, the divinity of 
innocence, the Child-God, the brightness of a 
spiritual power, connecting our softest earthly 
affections with our highest heavenward aspira- 
tions. * 


A Holy Family of more than six figures (the an- 
gels not included) is very unusual. But there are 
examples of groups combining all those person- 
ages mentioned in the Gospels as being related to 
Christ, though the nature and the degree of this 


* The inscription uuder a Holy Family in which the children 
are caressing each other is sometimes Delici@ mee esse cum fJilita 
tominum (Prov. viii. 31, ‘‘My aelhghts were with the sons of 
men ”’). 


894 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


supposed relationship has embarrassed critics and 
commentators, and is not yet settled. 

According to an ancient tradition, Anna, the 
mother of the Virgin Mary, was three times mar- 
ried, Joachim being her third husband: the twa 
others were Cleophas and Salomé. By Cleophas 
she had a daughter, also called Mary, who was 
the wife of Alpheus, and the mother of Thaddeus, 
James Minor, and Joseph Justus. By Salomé she 
had a daughter, also Mary, married to Zebedee, 
and the mother of James Major and John the 
Evangelist. This idea that St. Anna was succes- 
sively the wife of three husbands, and the mother 
of three daughters, all of the name of Mary, has 
been rejected by later authorities ; but in the begin- 
ning of the sixteenth century it was accepted, and 
to that period may be referred the pictures, Italian 
and German, representing a peculiar version of 
the Holy Family more properly styled “ the Fam- 
ily of the Virgin Mary.” 

A picture by Lorenzo di Pavia, painted about 
1513, exhibits a very complete example of this 
family group. Mary is seated in the centre, hold- 
ing in her lap the Infant Christ; near her is St. 
Joseph. Behind the Virgin stand St. Anna, and 
three men, with their names inscribed, Joachim, 
Cleophas, and Salomé. On the right of the Virgin 
is Mary the daughter of Cleophas, Alpheus her 
husband, and her children Thaddeus, James Minor, 
and Joseph Justus. On the left of the Virgin is 
Mary the daughter of Salomé, her husband Zebe 


THE HOLY FAMILY. $95 


flee, and her children James Major and John the 
Evangelist.* 

A yet more beautiful example is a picture by 
Perugino in the Musée at Marseilles, which I have 
already cited and described (Sacred and Legen- 
dary Art): here also the relatives of Christ, des- 
tined to be afterwards his apostles and the minis- 
ters of his word, are grouped around him in his 
infancy. In the centre Mary is seated and hold- 
ing the child; St. Anna stands behind, resting her 
hands affectionately on,the shoulders of the Virgin. 
In front, at the feet of the Virgin, are two boys, 
Joseph and Thaddeus; and near them Mary, the 
daughter of Cleophas, holds the hand of her third 
son James Minor. ‘To the right is Mary Salomé, 
holding in her arms her son John the Evangelist, 
and at her feet is her other son, James Major. Jo- 
seph, Zebedee, and other members of the family, 
stand around. The same subject I have seen in 
illuminated MSS., and in German prints. It is 
worth remarking that all these appeared about the 
same time, between 1505 and 1520, and that the 
subject afterwards disappeared ; from which I infer 
that it was not authorized by the Church; perhaps 
because the exact degree of relationship between 
these young apostles and the Holy Family was not 
clearly made out, either by Scripture or tradition. 

In a composition by Parmigiano, Christ is stand- 
ing at his mother’s knee; Elizaneth presents St 


* This picture I saw in the Louvre some years ago, but it is 
aot in the New Catalogue by M. Villot. 


396 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


John the Baptist; the other little St. John kneels 
on acushion. Behind the Virgin are St. Joachim 
and St. Anna; and behind Elizabeth, Zebedee 
and Mary Salomé, the parents of St. John the 
Evangelist. In the centre, Joseph looks on* witn 
folded hands. 


A catalogue raisonnée of the Holy Famities 
painted by distinguished artists including from two 
to six figures would fill volumes: I shall content 
myself with directing attention to some few exam- 
ples remarkable either for their celebrity, their 
especial beauty, or for some peculiarity, whether 
commendable or not, in the significance or the 
treatment. 

The strictly domestic conception may be said 
to have begun with Raphael and Correggio; and 
they afford the most perfect examples of the tender 
and the graceful in sentiment and action, the softest 
parental feeling, the loveliest forms of childhood. 
Of the purely natural and familiar treatment, 
which came into fashion in the seventeenth cen- 
tury, the pictures of Guido, Rubens, and Murills 
afford the most perfect specimens. 

1. Raphael. (Louvre, 377.) Mary, a noble 
queenly creature, is seated, and bends towards her 
Child,who is springing from his cradle to meet her 
embrace ; Elizabeth presents St. John; and Joseph, 
‘eaning on his hand, contemplates the group: two 
beautiful angels scatter flowers from above. This 
is the celebrated picture once supposed to have 


THE HOLY FAMILY. 897 


been executed expressly for Francis I.; but later 
researches prove it to have been painted for Lo- 
renzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino.* 

2. Correggio. Mary holds the Child upon her 
Knee, ooking down upon him fondly. Styled, 
from the introduction of the work-basket, La Vierge 
au Panier. A finished example of that soft, yet 
joyful, maternal feeling for which Correggio was 
remarkable. (National Gal. 23.) 

3. Pinturicchio. In a landscape, Mary and Jo- 
seph are seated together; near them are some 
loaves and a small cask of wine. More in front 
the two children, Jesus and St. John, are walking 
arm in arm; Jesus holds a book and John a 
pitcher, as if they were going to a well. (Siena 
Acad.) 

4. Andrea del Sarto. The Virgin is seated on 
the ground, and holds the Child; the young St. 


* It appears from the correspondence relative to this picture 
and the “ §t. Michael,’’ that both pictures were painted by or- 
der of this Lorenzo de’ Medici, the same who is figured in Michael 
Angelo’s Pensiero, and that they were intended as presents to 
Francis I. (See Dr. Gaye’s Carteggio, ii. 146, and also the new 
Catalogue of the Louvre by F. Villot.) I have mentioned this 
Holy Family not as the finest of Raphael’s Madonnas, but because 
there is something peculiarly animated and dramatic in the 
motif, considering the time at which it was painted. It was my 
intention to have given here a complete list of Raphael’s Holy 
Families; but this has been so well done in the last English 
edition of Kugler’s Handbook, that it has become superfluous 
as a repetition. The series of minute and exquisite drawings by 
mir. George Scharf, appended to Kugler’s Catalogue, renders it 
pasy to recognize all the groups described in this and the preced 
fag pages. 


26 


398 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


John is in che arms of St. Elizabeth, and Joseph 
is seen behind. (Louvre, 439.) This picture, 
another by the same painter in the National Gal- 
lery, a third in the collection of Lord Lansdowre, 
and in general all the Holy Families of Andrea, 
may be cited as examples of fine execution and 
mistaken or defective character. No sentiment, no 
action, connects the personages either with each 
other, or with the spectator. 

5. Michael Angelo. The composition, in the 
Florence Gallery, styled a Holy Family, appears to 
me a signal example of all that should be avoided. 
It is, as a conception, neither religious nor domes- 
tic; in execution and character exaggerated and 
offensive, and in colour hard and dry. 

Another, a bas-relief, in which the Child is shrink- 
ing from a bird held up by St. John, is very grand 
in the forms: the mistake in sentiment, as regards 
the bird, I have pointed out in the Introduction. 
(Royal Academy.) A third, in which the Child 
leans pensively on a book lying open on his moth- 
er’s knee, while she looks out on the spectator, is 
more properly a Mater Amabilis. 

There is an extraordinary fresco still preserved 
in the Casa Buonarotti at Florence, where it was 
painted on the wall by Michael Angelo, and styled 
a Holy Family, though the exact meaning of the 
subject has been often disputed. It appears to 
me, however, very clear, and me never before or 
since attempted by any other artist. (This fresco 
is engraved in the Etruria Pittrice.) Mary 


THE HOLY FAMILY. $99 


peated in the centre ; her Child is reclining on the 
ground between her knees; and the little St. John. 
holding his cross looks on him steadfastly. A man 
coming forward seems to ask of Mary, ‘“‘ Whose son 
is this ?” She most expressively puts aside Joseph 
with her hand, and looks up, as if answering, “ Not 
the son of an earthly, but of a heavenly Father!” 
There are five other figures standing behind, and 
the whole group is most significant. 

6. Albert Durer. The Holy Family seated un- 
der a tree; the Infant is about to spring from the 
knee of his mother into the outstretched arms of 
St. Anna; Joseph is seen behind with his hat in 
his hand; and to the left sits the aged Joachim 
contemplating the group. 

7. Mary appears to have just risen from her 
chair, the Child bends from her arms, and a young 
and very little angel, standing on tiptoe, holds up 
to him a flower — other flowers in his lap:—a 
beautiful old German print. i 

8. Giulio Romano. (La Madonna del Bacino.) 
(Dresden Gal.) The Child stands in a basin, and 
the young St. John pours water upon him from 
a vase, while Mary washes him. St. Elizabeth 
stands by, holding a napkin; St. Joseph, behind, 
is looking on. Notwithstanding the homeliness of 
the action, there is here a religious and mysterious 
significance, prefiguring the Baptism. 

9. N. Poussin. Mary, assisted Sy angels, washes 
and dresses her Child. (Gal. of Mr. Hope.) 

10. V. Salimberi.— An Interior. Mary and 


400 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Joseph are occupied by the Child. Elizabeth ia 
spinning. More in front St. John is carrying two 
puppies in the lappet of his coat, and the dog is 
leaping up to him. (Florence, Pitti Pal.) This is 
one out of many instances in which the painter, 
anxious to vary the oft-repeated subject, and no 
longer restrained by refined taste or religious 
veneration, has fallen into a most offensive impro- 
priety. 

11. Ippolito Andreasi. Mary, seated, holds the 
Infant Christ between her knees; Elizabeth leans 
over the back of her chair; Joseph leans on his 
staff behind the Virgin ; the little St. John and an 
angel present grapes, while four other angels are 
gathering and bringing them. A branch of vine, 
loaded with grapes, is lying in the foreground. 
Christ looks like a young Bacchus; and there is 
something mannered and fantastic in the execu- 
tion. (Louvre, 38.) With this domestic scene 
is blended a strictly religious symbol, “J am the 
vine.” 

12. Murillo. Mary is in the act of swaddling 
her Child (Luke ii. 7), while two angels, standing 
near him, solace the divine Infant with heavenly 
musi.. (Madrid Gal.) 

13. Rubens. Mary, seated on the ground, holds 
the Child with a charming maternal expression, a 
little from her, gazing on him with rapturous ear- 
nestness, while he looks up with responsive ten 
derness in her face. His right hand rests on a 
tross presented by St. John, who is presented by 


THE HOLY FAMILY. 40] 


St. Elizabeth. Wonderful for the intensely natu» 
ral and domestic expression, and the beauty of the 
execution. (Florence, Pitti Pal.) 

14. D. Hopfer. Within the porch of a building, 
Mary is seated on one side, reading intently. St. 
Anna, on the other side, holds out her arms to the 
Child, who is sitting on the ground between them: 
an angel looks in at the open door behind 
(Bartsch., viii. 483.) 

15. Rembrandt. (Le Ménage du Menuisier.) 
A rustic interior. Mary, seated in the centre, is 
suckling her Child. St. Anna, a fat Flemish gran- 
dame, has been reading the volume of the Scrip- 
tures, and bends forward in order to remove the 
covering and look in the Infant’s face. A cradle 
is near. Joseph is seen at work in the background. 
(Louvre.) 

16. Le Brun. (The Benedicite.) Mary, the 
Child, and Joseph, are seated at a frugal repast. 
Joseph is in the act of reverently saying grace, 
which gives to the picture the title by which it is 
known.* 


It is distinctly related that Joseph brought up his 
foster-Son as a carpenter, and that Jesus exercised 
the craft of his reputed father. In the Church pic- 
tures, we do not often meet with this touching and 
familiar aspect of the life of our Saviour. But in 


* Louvre, Ecole Francaise 57 There is a celebrated engray 
wg by Edelinck. 


402 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


the small decorative pictures painted for the rich 
ecclesiastics, and for private oratories, and in the 
cheap prints which were prepared for distribution 
among the people, and became especially popular 
during the religious reaction of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, we find this homely version of the subject per- 
petually, and often most pleasingly, exhibited. The 
greatest and wisest Being who ever trod the earth 
was thus represented, in the eyes of the poor artifi- 
ver, as ennobling and sanctifying labour and toil; 
and the quiet domestic duties and affections were 
here elevated and hallowed by religious associa- 
tions, and adorned by all the graces of Art. Even 
where the artistic treatment was not first-rate, was 
not such as the painters — priests and poets as well 
as painters — of the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- 
turies would have lent to such themes, — still if 
the sentiment and significance were but intelligible 
to those especially addressed, the purpose was ac- 
complished, and the effect must have been good. 
I have before me an example in a set of twelve 
prints, executed in the Netherlands, exhibiting a 
sort of history of the childhood of Christ, and his 
training under the eye of his mother. It is entitled 
Jesu Christi Dei Domini Salvateris nostri Infantia, 
“The Infancy of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus 
Christ;” and the title-page is surrounded by a 
border vomposed of musical instruments, spinning- 
wheels, distaffs, and other implements of female 
industry, intermixed with all kinds of mason’s and 
tarpenter’s tools. To cach print is appended 


THE HOLY FAMILY. 403 


lescriptive Latin verse ; Latin being chosen, I sup- 
pose, because the publication was intended for - 
distribution in different countries, and especially 
foreign missions, and to be explained by the priests 
to the people. 

1. The figure of Christ is seen in a glory sur- 
rounded by cherubim, &c. 

2. The Virgin is seated on the hill of Sion. 
The Infant in her lap, with outspread arms, looks 
up to a choir of angels, and is singing with them. 

3. Jesus, slumbering in his cradle, is rocked by two 
angels, while Mary sits by, engaged in needlework.* 

4. The interior of a carpenter’s shop. Joseph 
is plying his work, while Joachim stands near him. 
The Virgin is measuring linen, and St. Anna looks 
on. Two angels are at play with the Infant Christ, 
who is blowing soap-bubbles. 


* The Latin stanza beneath, is remarkable for its elegance, and 
because it has been translated by Coleridge, who mentions that 
he found the print and the verse under it in a little’ inn iu 
fermany. 

Dormi, Jesu, mater ridet, 
Quz tam dulcem somnum videt, 
Dormi, Jesu, blandule! 
Si non dormis mater plorat, 
Inter fila cantans orat, 
Blande, veni, somprule! 


Slee,, sweet babe! my cares beguiling, 
Mother sits beside thee smiling , 
Sleep, my darling, tenderly! 
If thou sleep not, mother mourneth, 
Singing as her wheel she turneth: 
Come, soft slumber, batmily ! ” 


£04 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


5. While Mary is preparing the family meal, 
and watching a pot which is boiling on the fire, 
Joseph is seen behind chopping wood: more in 
front, Jesus is sweeping together the chips, and 
two angels are gathering them up. 

6. Mary is reeling off a skein of thread; Joseph 
is squaring a plank ; Jesus is picking up the, chips, 
assisted by two angels. 

7. Mary is seated at her spinning-wheel; Jo- 
seph, assisted by Jesus, is sawing through a large 
beam; two angels looking on. 

8. Mary is spinning with a distaff; behind, Jo- 
seph is sawing a beam, on which Jesus is standing 
above; and two angels are lifting a plank. 

9. Joseph is seen building up the framework of 
a house, assisted by an angel; Jesus is boring a 
hole with a large gimlet; an angel helps him; 
Mary is winding thread. 

10. Joseph is busy roofing in the house; Jesus, 
assisted by the angels, is carrying a beam of wood 
up a ladder; below, in front, Mary is carding wool 
or flax. 

11. Joseph is building a boat, assisted by Jesus, 
who has a hammer and chisel in his hand: two an- 
gels help hin. The Virgin is knitting a stocking; 
and the new-built house is seen in the back- 
ground, 

12. Joseph is erecting a fence round a garden; 
Jesus, assisted by the angels, is fastening the palings 
together; while Mary is weaving garlands of roses 

Justin Martyr mentions, as a tradition of his 


THE HOLY FAMILY. 405 


hme, that Jesus assisted his foster-father m making 
yokes and ploughs. In Holland, where these © 
prints were published, the substitution of the boat- 
building seems very natural. St. Bonaventura, 
the great Franciscan theoogian, and a high au- 
thority in all that relates to the life and character 
of Mary, not only described her as a pattern of 
female industry, but alludes particularly to the 
legend of the distaff, and mentions a tradition, that, 
when in Egypt, the Holy Family was so reduced 
by poverty, that Mary begged from door to docr 
the fine flax which she afterwards spun into a gar- 
ment for her Child. 


As if to render the circle of maternal duties, 
and thereby the maternal example, more complete, 
there are prints of Mary leading her Son to school. 
I have seen one in which he carries his hornbook 
in his hand. Such representations, though popu- 
lar, were condemned by the highest church au- 
thorities as nothing less than heretical. The Abbé 
Méry counts among the artistic errors “ which en- 
danger the faith of good Christians,” those pictures 
which represent Mary or Joseph instructing the 
Infant Christ; as if all learning, all science, divine 
and human, were not his by intuition, and without 
any earthly teaching. (v. Théologie des Peintres.) 
A beautiful Holy Family, by Schidone, is entitled, 
‘The Infant Christ learning to read” (Bridge- 
water Gal.) ; and we frequently meet with pictures 
ya which the mother holds a book, while the divine 


406 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Child, with a serious intent expression, turns over 
the leaves, or points to the letters: but I imagine 
that these, and similar groups, represent Jesus 
imstructing Mary and Joseph, as he is recorded 
to have done. There is also a very pretty legend, 
in which he is represented as exciting the astonish- 
ment of the schoolmaster Zaccheus by his prema- 
ture wisdom. On these, and other details respect- 
ing the infancy of our Saviour, I shall have to say 
much more when treating of the History of Christ. 


THE DISPUTE IN THE TEMPLE. 
al. La Disputa nel Tempio. Fr. Jésus au milieu des Docteurs. 


THE subject which we call the Dispute in the 
Temple, or “ Christ among the Doctors,” is a scene 
of great importance in the life of the Redeemer 
(Luke ii. 41, 52). His appearance in the midst 
of the doctors, at twelve years old, when he sat 
“ hearing them and asking them questions, and all 
who heard him were astonished at his understand- 
ing and his answers,” has been interpreted as the 
first manifestation of his high character as teacher 
of men, as one come to throw a new light on the 
prophecies, — 


“For trailing clouds of glory had he come 
From heaven, which was his home;” 


and also as instructing us that those who are ta 


THE DISPUTE IN THE TEMPLE. 407 


decome teachers of men ought, when young, to lis- 
ten to the voice of age and experience; and that — 
those who have grown old may learn lessons of 
wisdom from childish innocence. Such is the his- 
torical and scriptural representation. But in the 
life of the Virgin, the whole scene changes its sig- 
nification. It is no longer the wisdom of the Son, 
it is the sorrow of the Mother which is the princi- 
pal theme. In their journey home from Jerusa- 
lem, Jesus has disappeared; he who was the light 
of her eyes, whose precious existence had been so 
often threatened, has left her care, and gone, she 
knows not whither. “No fancy can imagine the 
doubts, the apprehensions, the possibilities of mis- 
chief, the tremblings of heart, which the holy Vir- 
gin-mother feels thronging in her bosom. For 
three days she seeks him in doubt and anguish.” 
(Jeremy Taylor’s “ Life of Christ.”) At length 
he is found seated in the temple in the midst of 
the learned doctors, “hearing them, and asking 
them questions.” And she said unto him, “ Son, 
why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, I and 
thy father have sought thee sorrowing.” And he 
said unto them, “ How is it that ye sought me? 
Wisv ye not that I must be about my Father's 
business ?” 

Now there are two ways of representing this 
scene. In all the earlier pictures it is chiefly with 
reference to the Virgin Mother: it is one of the 
sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary. The Child 
Vesus sits in the temple, teaching with hand up 


4108 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA 


lifted ; the doctors round him turn over the leaves 
of their great books, searching the law and the 
prophets. Some look up at the young inspired 
Teacher — he who was above the law, yet came to 
obey the law and fulfil the prophecies — with 
amazement. Conspicuous in front, stand Mary 
and Joseph, and she is in act to.address to him 
the tender reproach, “I and thy father have 
sought thee sorrowing.” In the early examples 
she is a principal figure, but in later pictures she is 
seen entering in the background; and where the 
scene relates only to the life of Christ, the figures 
of Joseph and Mary are omitted altogether, and 
the Child teacher becomes the central, or at least 
the chief, personage in the group. 

In a picture by Giovanni da Udine, the subject 
is taken out of the region of the actual, and treated 
altogether as a mystery. In the centre sits the 
young Redeemer, his hand raised, and surrounded 
by several of the Jewish doctors; while in front 
stand the four fathers of the Church, who flour- 
ished in the interval between the fourth and sixth 
centuries after Christ; and these, holding their 
books, point to Jesus, or look to him, as to the 
source of their wisdom ;—a beautiful and poetical 
version of the true significance of the story, which 
che critics of the last century would call a chrono- 
logical mistake. (Venice, A:ademy.) 

But those representations which come under our 
“special consideration at present, are such as rep 
resent the moment in which Mary appears before 


THE DISPUTE IN THE TEMPLE. 4035 


her Son. The earliest instance of this treatment 
is a group by Giotto. Dante cites the deportment - 
of the Virgin on this occasion, and her mild re- 
proach, “con atto dolce di madre,” as a signal 
lesson of gentleness and forbearance. (Purga- 
torio, c. xv.) It is as if he had transferred the 
picture of Giotto into his Vision; for it is as a 
picture, not an action, taat it is introduced. An- 
other, by Simon Memmi, in the Roscoe Collection 
at Liverpool, is conceived in a similar spirit. In a 
picture by Garofalo, Mary does not reproach her 
Son, but stands listening to him with her hands 
folded on her bosom. In a large and fine compo- 
sition by Pinturicchio, the doctors throw down their 
books before him, while the Virgin and Joseph are 
entering on one side. The subject is conspicuous 
m Albert Durer’s Life of the Virgin, where Jesus 
is seated on high, as one having authority, teaching 
from a chair like that of a professor in a university, 
and surrounded by the old bearded doctors; and 
Mary stands before her Son in an attitude of ex- 
postulation. 

After the restoration of Jesus to his parents, they 
vonducted him home; “but his mother kept all 
these sayings in her heart.” The return to Naza- 
reth, Jesus walking humbly between Joseph and 
Mary, was painted by Rubens for the Jesuit Col- 
.ege at Antwerp, as a lesson to youth. Underneath 
6 the text, “ And he was subyect unto them.” * 


* It has been called by mistake ‘‘ The Return from Egypt ” 


410 LEGENDS OF TEE MADONNA. 


THE DEATH OF JOSEPH. 


Ital. La Morte di San Giuseppe. Fy. La Mort de 8t Joseph 
Ger. Josef’s Tod. 


BETWEEN the journey to Jerusalem and the 
public appearance of Jesus, chronologers place 
the death of Joseph, but the exact date is not 
ascertained: some place it in the eighteenth year 
of the life of our Saviour, and others in his twenty- 
seventh year, when, as they assert, Joseph was one 
hundred and eleven years old. 

I have already observed, that the enthusiasm for 
the character of Joseph, and his popularity as a 
saint and patron of power, date from the fifteenth 
century ; and late in the sixteenth century I find, 
for the first time, the death of Joseph treated as a 
separate subject. It appears that the supposed 
anniversary of his death (July 20) had long been 
regarded in the East as a solemn festival, and that 
it was the custom to read publicly, on this occasion, 
some homily relating to his life and death. The 
very curious Arabian work, entitled “ The History 
of Joseph the Carpenter,” is supposed to be one of 
these ancient homilies, and, in its original form, ag 
old as the fourth century.* Here the death of Jo- 


* The Arabic MS. in the library at Paris is of the year 1299, 
and the Coptic version as old as 1867. Extracts from these were 
become current in the legends of the West, about the fifteenth 
sentury. — See the ‘‘ Neu Testameutlichen Apekryphen,” editeé 
in German by Dr. K. F. Borberg. 


THE DEATH OF JOSEPH. 411 


seph is described with great detail, and with many 
solemn and pathetic circumstances; and the whole - 
history is put into the mouth of Jesus, who is sup- 
posed to recite it to his disciples: he describes the 
pious end of Joseph ; he speaks of himself as being 
present, and acknowledged by the dying man as 
“Redeemer and Messiah,” and he proceeds to 
record the grief of Mary :— 

‘‘ And my mother, the Virgin, arose, and she 
came nigh to me and said, ‘O my beloved Son 
now must the good old man die!’ and I answerec 
and said unto her, ‘O my most dear mother, needs 
must all created beings die; and death will have 
his rights, even over thee, beloved mother; but 
death to him and to thee is no death, only the pas- 
sage to eternal life; and this body I have derived 
from thee shall also undergo death.’” 

And they sat, the Son and the mother, beside 
Joseph ; and Jesus held his hand, and watched the 
last breath of life trembling on his lips; and.Mary 
touched his feet, and they were cold; and the 
daughters and the sons of Joseph wept and sobbed 
around in their grief; and then Jesus adds ten- 
derly, “I, and my mother Mary, we wept with 
them.” 

Then follows a truly Oriental scene, of the evil 
angels rising up with Death, and rejoicing in his 
power over the saint, while Jesus rebukes them; 
2nd at his prayer God sends down Michael, prince 
at the angelic host, and Gabriel, the herald of light, 
to take possession of the departing spirit, enfold if 


41% LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


in a robe of brightness thereby to preserve it from 
the “ dark angels,” and carry it up into heaven. 

This legend of the death of Joseph was, in many 
forms, popular in the sixteenth century; hence 
arose the custom of invoking him as intercessor 
to obtain a blessed and peaceful end, so that he 
became, in some sort, the patron saint of death- 
beds ; and it is at this time we find the first repre- 
sentations of the death of Joseph, afterwards a 
popular subject in the churches and convents of 
the Augustine canons and Carmelite friars, who 
had chosen him for their patron saint; and also 
in family chapels consecrated to the memory or the 
repose of the dead. 

The finest example I have seen, is by Carlo - 
Maratti, in the Vienna Gallery. St. Joseph is on 
a couch; Christ is seated near him; and the Vir- 
gin stands by with folded hands, in a sad, contem- 
plative attitude. | 


I am not aware that the Virgin has ever been 
introduced into any representation of the tempta- 
tion or the baptism of our Saviour. These sub- 
jects, so important and so picturesque, are reserved 
till we enter upon the History of Christ. 


THE MARRIAGE AT CANA. 413 


THE MARRIAGE AT CANA IN GALILEE. 


tal. Le Nozze di Cana. Fr. Les Noces de Cana. Ger. Die 
Hochzeit zu Cana. 


AFTER his temptation and baptism, the first 
manifestation of the divine mission and muracu- 
lous power of Jesus was at the wedding feast at 
Cana in Galilee; and those who had devoted 
themselves to the especial glorification of the Vir- 
gin Mother did not forget that it was at her re- 
quest this first miracle was accomplished : — that 
out of her tender and sympathetic commiseration 
for the apparent want, arose her appeal to him, — 
not, indeed, as requiring anything from him, but, 
looking to him with habitual dependence on his 
goodness and power. She simply said, “ They 
have no wine!” MHe replied, “ Woman, what 
have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet 
come.” The term woman, thus used, sounds harsh 
to us; but in the original is a term of respect. Nor 
did Jesus intend any denial to the mother, whom 
he regarded with dutiful and pious reverence : — 
it was merely an intimation that he was not yet 
entered into the period of miraculous power. He 
anticipated ‘t, however, for her sake, and because 
of her request. Such is the view taken of this 
neautiful and dramatic incident by the early the- 
ologians ; and in the same spirit it has been uter 
yreted by the painters. 

27 


414 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


The Marriage at Cana appears very seldom in 
the ancient representations taken from the Gospel. 
All the monkish institutions then prevalent discred- 
ited marriage; and it is clear that this distinct 
consecration of the rite by the presence of the 
Saviour and his mother did not find favour with 
the early patrons of art. 

There is an old Greek tradition, that the Mar- 
riage at Cana was that of John the Evangelist. In 
the thirteenth century, when the passionate enthu- 
siasm for Mary Magdalene was at its height, it was 
a popular article of belief, that the Marriage which 
Jesus graced with his presence was that of John 
the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene; and that 
immediately after the wedding feast, St. John and 
Mary, devoting themselves to an austere and chaste 
religious life, followed Christ, and ministered to him, 

As a scene in the life of Christ, the Marriage at 
Cana is of course introduced incidentally; but 
even here, such were the monastic principles and 
prejudices, that I find it difficult to point out any 
very early example. In the “Manual of Greek 
Art,” published by Didron, the rules for the repre- 
sentation are thus laid down: — “ A table; around 
it Scribes and Pharisees; one holds up a cup of 
wine, and seems astonished. In the midst, the 
bride and bridegroom are seated together. The 
bridegroom is to have ‘grey hair and a round 
beard (cheveux gris et barbe arrondie) ; both are 
to be crowned with flowers; behind them, a servi- 
tor. Christ, the Virgin, and Joseph are to be or 


THR MARRIAGE AT CANA. 414 


pne side, and on the other are six jars: the attend- 
ants are in the act of filling them with water from 
leathern buckets.” 

The introduction of Joseph is quite peculiar to 
Greek art; and the more curious, that in the list 
of Greek subjects there is not one from his life, nor 
ir which he is a conspicuous figure. On the other 
hand, the astonished “ruler of the feast” (the Ar 
chitriclino), so dramatic and so necessary to the 
comprehension of the scene, is scarcely ever omit- 
ed. The apostles whom we may imagine to be 
present, are Peter, Andrew, James, and John. 


As a separate subject, the Marriage at Cana 
first became popular in the Venetian school, and 
thence extended to the Lombard and German 
schools of the same period — that is, about the be- 
ginning of the sixteenth century. 

The most beautiful representation I have ever 
seen is a fresco, by Luini, in the church of San 
Maurizio, at Milan. It belongs to a convent of 
nuns; and I imagine, from its introduction there, 
that it had a mystic signification, and referred toa 
divine Sposalizio. In this sense, the treatment is 
perfect. ‘There are just the number of figures ne- 
cessary to tell the story, and no more. It is the 
bride who is here the conspicuous figure, seated in 
the centre, arrayed in spotless white, and repre- 
sented as a nun about to make her profession ; for 
this is evidently the intended signification. The 
bridegroom is at her side, and near to the spec- 


416 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


tator. Christ and the Virgin are seated together 
and appear to be conversing. A man presents a 
cup of wine. Including guests and attendants, 
there are only twelve figures. The only fault of 
this exquisite and graceful composition, is the intro- 
duction of a cat and dog in front: we feel that 
they ought to have been omitted, as giving ocea- 
sion for irreverent witticisms. * 

In contrast with this picture, and as a gorgeous 
specimen of the Venetian style of treatment, we may 
turn to the “ Marriage at Cana ” in the Louvre, origi- 
nally painted to cover one side of the refectory of the 
convent of San Giorgio Maggiore at Venice, whence 
it was carried off by the French in 1796. This 
immense picture is about thirty-six feet in length, 

“and about twenty feet in height, and contains more 
than a hundred figures above life-size. In the cen- 
tre Christ is seated, and beside him the Virgin 
Mother. Both heads are merely commonplace, 
and probably portraits, like those of the other per- 
sonages at the extremity of the table. On the left 
are seated the bride and bridegroom. In the fore- 
ground a company of musicians are performing a 
concert; behind the table is a balustrade, where 
are seen numerous servants occupied in cutting up 
the viands and serving dishes, with attendants and 
spectators. ‘The chief action to be represented, 
the astonishing miracle performed by him at whose 
command “ the fountain blushed into wine,” is here 


* This beautiful fresco, which is seldom seen, being behind ths 
altar, was in a very ruined condition wken I saw it last in 1855. 


THE MARRIAGE AT CANA 417 


quite a secondary matter: and the value of tha 
picture lies in its magnitude and variety as a com- 
position, and the portraits of the historical charac- 
ters and remarkable personages introduced, — Fran- 
eis I., his queen Eleanora of Austria, Charles V. 
and others. In the group of musicians in front we 
recognize Titian and Tintoretto, old Bassano, and 
Paolo himself. 

The Marriage at Cana, as a refectory subject, 
had been unknown till this time: it became popu- 
lar, and Paolo afterwards repeated it several times. 
The most beautiful of all, to my feeling, is that in the 
Dresden Gallery, where the “ruler of the feast,” 
holding up the glass of wine with admiration, 
seems to exclaim, “ Thou hast kept the good wine 
until now.” In another, which is at Milan, the 
Virgin turns round to the attendant, and desires 
him to obey her Son ; —‘ Whatsoever he saith un- 
to you, doit!” 

As the Marriage at Cana be:ongs, as a subject, 
rather to the history of Christ, than to that of the 
Virgin his mother, I shall not enter into it further 
here, but proceed. 


After the marriage at Cana in Galilee, which 
may be regarded as the commencement of the mix 
raculous mission of our Lord, we do not hear any- 
thing of his mother, the Virgin, till the time ap- 
proached when he was to close his ministry by his 
death. She is not once referred to by name in the 


418 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Gospels until the scene of the Crucifixion. We 
are indeed given to understand, that in the jour- 
neys of our Saviour, and particularly when he 
went up from Nazareth to Jerusalem, the women 
followed and ministered to him (Matt. xxvii, 55 
Luke, viii. 2); and those who have written the life 
of the Virgin for the edification of the people, and 
those who have translated it into the various forms 
of art, have taken it for granted that Sux, his 
mother, could not have been absent or indifferent 
where others attended with affection and zeal: but 
Ido not remember any scene in which she is an 
actor, or even a conspicuous figure. 

Among the carvings on the stalls at Amiens, 
there is one which represents the passage (Matt. 
xii. 46.) wherein our Saviour, preaching in Judea, 
is told that his mother and his brethren stand with- 
out. “ But he answering, said to him that told him, 

Who is my mother ? and who are my brethren ?’ 
And he stretched forth his hand toward his disci- 
ples, and said, ‘ Behold my mother and my breth- 
ren!’” The composition exhibits on one side 
Jesus standing and teaching his disciples; while 
on the other, through an open door, we perceive 
the Virgin and two or three others. This repre- 
sentation is very rare. The date of these stalls is 
the sixteenth century; and such a group in a series 
of the life of the Virgin could not, I think, have oc- 
curred in the fifteenth. It would have been quite 
inconsistent with all the religious tendencies of that 
time, to exhibit Christ as preaching within, while hi» 


THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST. 419 


- divine and most glorious” Mother was standing 
without. 

The theologians of the middle ages insist on the 
close and mystical relation which they assure us 
existed between Christ and his mother: however 
far separated, there was constant communion be- 
tween them; and wherever he might be — in whate 
ever acts of love, or mercy, or benign wisdom 
occupied for the good of man — there was also his 
mother, present with him in the spirit. I think we 
can trace the impress ofthis mysticism in some of 
the productions of the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- 
turies. For example, among the frescoes by An- 
gelico da Fiesole in the cloisters of St. Mark, at 
Florence, there is one of the Transfiguration, where 
the Saviour stands glorified with arms outspread — 
a simple and sublime conception, — and on each 
side, half figures of Moses and Elias: lower down 
appear the Virgin and St. Dominick. There is al- 
so in the same series a fresco of the Last Supper as 
the Eucharist, in which the Virgin is kneeling, glo- 
tified, on one side of the picture, and appears as a 
partaker.of the rite. Such a version of either sub- 
ject must be regarded as wholly mystical and ex- 
ceptional, and I am not acquainted with any other 
instance. 


420 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA, 


LO SPASIMO. 


“© what avails me now that honour high, 
To have conceived of God, and that salute, 
‘Hail highly favoured among women blest* 
While I to sorrows am no less advanced, 
And fears as eminent, above the lot 
Of other women by the birth I bore.” 


——“ This ismy favoured lot, 
My exaltation to afflictions high.” 
MILTON. 


In the Passion of our Lord, taken in connection 
with the life of the Virgin Mother, there are three 
scenes in which she is associated with the action as 
an important, if not a principal, personage. 

We are told in the Gospel of St. John (chap. 
xvii.), that Christ took a solemn farewell of his dis- 
ciples: it is therefore supposed that he did not go 
up to his death without taking leave of his Mother, 
— without preparing her for that grievous agony by 
all the comfort that his tender and celestial pity 
and superior nature could bestow. This parting of 
Christ and his Mother before the Crucifixion is a 
modern subject. J am not acquainted with any ex 
ample previous to the beginning of the sixteenth 
century. The earliest I have met with is by Albert 
Durer, in the series of the life of the Virgin, but 
there are probably examples more ancient, or as 
teast contemporary. In Albert Durer’s composi 
tion, Mary is sinking to the earth, as if overcome 


LO SPASIMO. 421 


with affliction, and is sustained in the arms of two 
women ; she looks up with folded hands and stream- 
mg eyes to her Son who stands before her; he, 
with one hand extended, looks down upon her com- 
passionately, and seems to give her his last benedic- 
tion. I remember another instance, by Paul Ve- 
ronese, full of that natural affectionate sentiment 
which belonged to the Venetian school. (Flom 
ence Gal.) In a very beautiful picture by Carotto 
of Verona, Jesus kneels before his Mother, and re- 
ceives her benediction before he departs: this must 
be regarded as an impropriety, a mistake in point 
of sentiment, considering the peculiar relation be- 
tween the two personages; but it is a striking in- 
stance of the popular notions of the time respect- 
ing the high dignity of the Virgin Mother. I have 
not seen it repeated.* 


It appears from the Gospel histories, that the 
women who had attended upon Christ during his 
ministry failed not in their truth and their love to 
the last. In the various circumstances of the Pas- 
sion of our Lord, where the Virgin Mother figures 
as an important personage, certain of these women 
are represented as always near her, and sustaining 

* Verona, San Bernardino. It is worth remarking, with re- 
gard to this picture, that the Intendant of the Convent rebuked 
the artist, declaring that he had made the Saviour show too little 
reverence for his Mother, seeing that he knelt to her on one knee 


enly.— See the anecdote in Vasari, vol. i. p. 651. Fl Edit 
838. 


422 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA, 


her with a tender and respectful sympathy. Three 
are mentioned by name, — Mary Magdalene; Mary 
the wife of Cleophas; and Mary, the mother of 
James and John. Martha, the sister of Mary Mag- 
dalene, is also included, as I infer from her name, 
which in several instances is inscribed in the nims- 
bus encircling her head. I have in another place 
given the story of Martha, and the legends which 
in the fourteenth century converted her into a very 
important character in sacred art. (First Series of 
Sacred and Legendary Art.) These women, there- 
fore, form, with the Virgin, the group of five female 
figures which are generally included in the scrip- 
tural scenes from the Life of Christ. 

Of course, these incidents, and more especially 
the “ Procession to Calvary,” and the “ Crucifix- 
ion,” belong to another series of subjects, which I 
shall have to treat hereafter in the History of our 
Lord ; but they are also included in a series of the 
Rosary, as two of the mystical Sorrows; and 
under this point of view I must draw attention to 
the peculiar treatment of the Virgin in some re- 
markable examples, which will serve as a guide to 
others. 


The Procession to Calvary (Jl Portamento della 
Croce) followed a path leading from the gate of 
Jerusalem to Mount Calvary, which has been kept 
in remembrance and sanctified as the Via Dolorosa 
and there is a certain spot near the summit of the 
hill, where, according to a very ancient tradition 


THE PROCESSION TO CALVARY. 423 


the Virgin Mother, and the women her compar- 
ions, placed themselves to witness the sorrowfus 
procession; where the Mother, beholding her di- 
vine Son dragged along, all bleeding from the 
scourge, and sinking under his cross, in her ex- 
treme agony sank, fainting, to the earth. This in- 
cident gave rise to one of the mournful festivals of 
the Passion Week, under the title, in French, 
of Notre Dame du Spasme or de la Pamoison; in 
Italian Za Madonna dello Spasimo, or Il Pianto di 
Maria ; and this is the title given to some of those 
representations in which the affliction of Mary is 
a prominent part of the tragic interest of the scene. 
She is sometimes sinking to the earth, sustained by 
the women or by St. John; sometimes she stands 
with clasped hands, mute and motionless with excess 
of anguish ; sometimes she stretches out her arms to 
her Son, as Jesus, sinking under the weight of his 
cross, turns his benign eyes upon her, and the oth- 
ers who follow him: “ Daughters of Jerusalem, 
weep not for me !” 

This is the moment chosen by Raphael in that 
sublime composition celebrated under the title “ Lo 
Spasimo di Sicilia” (Madrid Gal.) ; so called be- 
cause it was originally painted for the high altar of 
the church of the Sicilian Olivetans at Palermo, 
fedicated to the Madonna dello Spasimo. It was 
thence removed, by order of Philip IV. of Spain, 
early ir the seventeenth century, and is now placed 
in the yauery at Madrid. Here the group of the 
Give women forms an important part of the picture 


£24 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


oecupying the foreground on the right. The ex 
pression in the face of the Mother, stretching forth 
her arms to her Son with a look of appealing ag- 
ony, has always been cited as one of the great ex- 
amples of Raphael’s tragic power. It is well known 
that in this composition the attitude of Christ was 
suggested by the contemporary engraving of Mar- 
tin Schoen; but the prominence given to the group 
of women, the dramatic propriety and pathetic 
grace in the action of each, and the consummate 
skill shown in the arrangement of the whole, belong 
only to Raphael.* In Martin Schoen’s vivid com- 
position, the Virgin, and the women her compan- 
ions, are seen far off in the background, crouching 
in the “hollow way” between two cliffs, from 
which spot, according to the old tradition, they be- 
held the sad procession. We have quite a contrary 
arrangement in an early composition by Lucas van 
Leyden. The procession to Calvary is seen moving 
along in the far distance, while the foreground is 


* The veneration at all times entertained for this picture was 
probably enhanced by a remarkable fact in its history. Raphael 
painted it towards the close of the year 1517, and when finished, 
it was embarked at the port of Ostia, to be consigned to Palermo. 
A storm came on, the vessel foundered at sea, and all was lost 
except the case containing this picture, which was floated by the 
currents into the Bay of Genoa; and, on being landed, the won: 
drous masterpiece of art was taken out unhurt. The Genoese 
at first refused to give it up, insisting that it had been preserved 
and floated to their shores by the miraculous interposition of 
the blessed Virgin herself; and it required a positive mandate 
from the Pope before they would restore it to the Olivetan fa 
thers. — See Passavant's Rafael, i. 292. 


THE PROCESSION TO CALVARY. 425 


eccupied by two figures only, Mary in a trance of 
anguish sustained by the weeping St. John. 

In a very fine “ Portamento del Croce,” by Gau- 
denzio Ferrari, one of the soldiers or executioners, 
in repulsing the sorrowful mother, lifts up a stick as 
if to strike her ; — a gratuitous act of ferocity, which 
shocks at once the taste and the feelings, and, with- 
out adding anything to the pathos of the situation, 
detracts from the religious dignity of the theme. It 
is like the soldier kicking our Saviour, which I re- 
member to have seen in a version of the subject by 
a much later painter, Daniele Crespi. 

Murillo represents Christ as fainting under the 
weight of the cross, while the Virgin sits on the 
ground by the way-side, gazing on him with fixed 
eyes and folded hands, and a look of unutterable 
anguish.* 


The Ecce Homo, by Correggio, in our National 
Gallery, is treated in a very peculiar manner with 
reference to the Virgin, and is, in fact, another 
version of Lo Spasimo, the fourth of her ineffable 
sorrows. Here Christ, as exhibited to the people 
by Pilate, is placed in the distance, and is in all re- 
spects the least important part of the picture, of 
which we have the real subject in the far more 
prominent figure of the Virgin in the foreground. 
At sight of the agony and degradation of her 
Son, she closes her eyes, and is on the point of 


* This picture, remarkable for the intense expression, was im 
Whe collection of Lord Orford, and sold in June, 1856 


£26 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


swooning. ‘The pathos of expression in the half 
unconscious face and helpless, almost lifeless hands, 
which seem to seek support, is particularly fine. 


’ 


THE CRUCIFIXION. 


** Verum stabas, optima Mater, juxta crucem Filii tui, nom 
solum corpore, sed mentis constantia.”? 


Tus great subject belongs more particularly te 
the Life of Christ. It is, I observe, always omitted 
in a series of the Life of the Virgin, unless it be 
the Rosary, in which the “ Vigil of the Virgin by 
the Cross” is the fifth and greatest of the Seven 
Sorrows. 

We cannot fail to remark, that whether the Cru- 
cifixion be treated as a mystery or as an event, 
Mary is always an important figure. 

In the former case she stands alone on the right 
of the cross, and St. John on the left.* She looks 
up with an expression of mingled grief and faith, 
or bows her head upon her clasped hands in resig- 
nation. In such a position she is the idealized 
Mater Dolorosa, the Daughter of Jerusalem, the 
personified Church mourning for the great Sacri- 
fice ; and this view of the subject I have already 
discussed at length. 

* It has been a question with the learned whether the Virgin 
Mary, with St. John, ought not to stand on the left of the cross, 
w allusion to Psalm exlii. (always interpreted as prophetic of the 


Passion of Christ) ver.4: ‘‘ Iiooked on my right hand, and be 
held, but there was none w.io wowld know me.” 


THE CRUCIFIXION. 427 


On the other hand, when the Crucifixion is 
treated as a great historical event, as a living. 
scene acted before our eyes, then the position and 
sentiment given to the Virgin are altogether dif- 
ferent, but equally fixed by the traditions of art. 
That she was present, and near at hand, we must 
presume from the Gospel of St. John, who was an 
eye-witness; and most of the theological wniters 
infer that on this occasion her constancy and sub- 
lime faith were even greater than her grief, and 
that her heroic fortitude elevated her equally 
above the weeping women and the timorous dis- 
ciples. This is not, however, the view which the 
modern painters have taken, and even the most 
ancient examples exhibit the maternal grief for a 
while overcoming the constancy. She is standing 
indeed, but in a fainting attitude, as if about to 
sink to the earth, and is sustained in the arms of 
the two Marys, assisted, sometimes, but not gen- 
erally, by St. John; Mary Magdalene is usually 
embracing the foot of the cross. With very little 
variation this is the usual treatment down to the 
beginning of the sixteenth century. I do not 
know who was the first artist who placed the 
Mother prostrate on the ground; but it must be 
regarded as a fault, and as detracting from the 
high religious dignity of the scene. In all the 
greatest examples, from Cimabue, Giotto, and 
Pietro Cavallini, down to Angelico, Masaccio, 
and Andrea Mantegna, and their contemporaries 
Mary is uniformly standing 


$28 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


In a Crucifixion by Martin Schoen, the Virgin, 
partly held up in the arms of St. John, embraces 
with fervour the foot of the cross: a very rare and 
exceptional treatment, for this is the proper place 
of Mary Magdalene. In Albert Durer’s composi- 
tion, she is just in the act of sinking to the ground 
in a very natural attitude, as if her limbs had given 
way under her. In Tintoretto’s celebrated Cruci- 
fixion, we have an example of the Virgin placed 
on the ground, which if not one of the earliest, is 
one of the most striking of the more modern con- 
ceptions. Here the group at the foot of the cross 
is wonderfully dramatic and expressive, but cer- 
tainly the reverse of dignified. Mary lies faint- 
ing on the earth; one arm is sustained by St. 
John, the other is round the neck of a woman 
who leans against the bosom of the Virgin, with 
eyes closed, as if lost in grief. Mary Magdalene 
and another look up to the crucified Saviour, and 
more in front a woman kneels wrapped up in a 
‘cloak, and hides her face. (Venice, S. Rocco.) 

Zani has noticed the impropriety here, and in 
other instances, of exhibiting the “ Grandissima 
Donna” as prostrate, and in a state of insensi- 
bility; a style of treatment which, in more an- 
cient times, would have been inadmissible. The 
idea embodied by the artist should be that which 
Bishop Taylor nas painted in words: —“ By the 
ross stood the holy Virgin Mother, rpon whom 
old Simeon’s prophecy was now verified; for now 
the felt a sword passing through her very soul 


THE CRUCIFIXION. 42§ 


She stood without clamour and womanish noises* 
sad, silent, and with a modest grief, deep as the 
waters of the abyss, but smooth as the face of a 
pool ; full of love, and patience, and sorrow, and 
hope!” To suppose that this noble creature lost 
all power over her emotions, lost her consciousness 
of the “ high affliction ” she was called to suffer, is 
quite unworthy of the grand ideal of womanly per- 
fection here placed before us. It is clear, however, 
that in the later representations, the intense ex- 
pression of maternal anguish in the hymn of the 
Stabat Mater gave the key to the prevailing senti- 
ment. And as it is sometimes easier to faint than 
to endure; so it was easier for certain artists to 
express the pallor and prostration of insensibility, 
than the sublime faith and fortitude which in that 
extremest hour of trial conquered even a mother’s 
unutterable woe. 

That most affecting moment, in which the dying 
Saviour recommends his Mother to the care of the 
best beloved of his disciples, I have never seen 
worthily treated. There are, however, some few 
Crucifixions in which I presume the idea to have 
been indicated ; as where the Virgin stands lean 
ing on St. John, with his sustaining arm reverently 
round her, and both looking up to the Saviour, 
whose dying face is turned towards them. There 
is an instance by Albert Durer (the wood-cut in 
the “Large Passion”); but the examples are se 
_ few as to be exceptional. 


28 


430 LEGENUVS OF THE MADONNA. 


Tue DESCENT FROM THE Cross, and the Drp- 
OSITION, are two separate themes. In the first, 
according to the antique formula, the Virgin should 
stand ; for here, as in the Crucifixion, she must be 
associated with the principal action, and not, by 
the excess of ier grief, disabled from taking her 
part in it. In the old legend it is said, that when 
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus wrenched out 
the nails which fastened the hands of our Lord to 
the cross, St. John took them away secretly, that 
his mother might not see them —“ affin que la Vi- 
erge Marie ne les veit pas, crainte que le ceeur ne lui 
amolist.”. And then, while Nicodemus drew forth 
the nails which fastened his feet, Joseph of An- 
mathea sustained the body, so that the head and 
arms of the dead Saviour hung over his shoulder. 
And the afflicted Mother, seeing this, arose on her 
feet, and she took the bleeding hands of her Son, 
as they hung down, and clasped them in her own, 
and kissed him tenderly. And then, indeed, she 
sank to the earth, because of the great anguish she 
suffered, lamenting her Son, whom the cruel Jews 
had murdered.* 


¥¢¢____ tant qu’il n’y a coeur si dur, ni entendement d’homme 
qui n’y deust penser. ‘Lasse, mon confort! m’amour et ma 
loye, que les Juifz ont faict mourir 4 grand tort et sans cause — 
pour ce qu’il leur monstrait leurs faultes et enseignoit leur 
saulyement! O felons et mauvais Juifz, ne m’epurgnez pas! pu- 
Isque vous crucifiez mon enfant crucifiez moy — moy qui suis sa 
flolente mere, et me tuez d’aucune mort affin que je meure ayes 
‘uy!’ v. The old French Legend, *' Vie de Notre-Dame la glors 
ruse Vierge Marve.’ 


THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS. 431 


The first action described in this legend (the af- 
flicted Mother embracing the arm of her Son) is 
precisely that which was adopted by the Greek 
masters, and by the early Italians who followed 
them, Nicolo Pisano, Cimabue, Giotto, Puccio Ca- 
panna, Duccio di Siena, and others from the thir 
teenth to the fifteenth century. But in later pic- 
tures, the Virgin in the extremity of her grief has 
sunk to the ground. In an altar-piece by Cigoli, 
she is seated on the earth, looking out of the pic- 
ture, as if appealing, ‘“‘ Was ever sorrow like unto 
my sorrow ? ” while the crown of thorns lies before 
her. This is very beautiful ; but even more touch- 
ing is the group in the famous “ Descent from the 
Cross,” the masterpiece of Daniel di Volterra 
(Rome, Trinit& di Monte): here the fainting form 
of the Virgin, extended on the earth, and the dy- 
ing anguish in her face, have never been exceeded, 
and are, in fact, the chief merit of the picture. In 
the famous Descent at Antwerp, the masterpiece of 
Rubens, Mary stands, and supports the arm of her 
Son as he is let down from the cross. This is in 
accordance with the ancient version; but her face 
and figure are the least effective part of this fine 
picture. 

In a beautiful small composition, a print, attrib- 
ated to Albert Durer, there are only three figures. 
Joseph of Arimathea stands on a ladder, and de- 
taches from the cross the dead form of the Saviour, 
who is received into tne arms of his Mother. This 
is a form of the Afater olorose which is very un- 


132 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


common, and must be regarded as exceptional and 
ideal, unless we are to consider it as a study and an 
incomplete group. 


+ 


Tue Deposition is properly that moment 
which succeeds the Derscmntr from the Cross; 
when the dead form of Christ is deposed or laid 
upon the ground, resting on the lap of his Mother, 
and lamented by St. John, the Magdalene, and 
others. The ideal and devotional form of this sub- 
ject, styled a Pieta, may be intended to represent 
one of those festivals of the Passion Week which 
commemorate the participation of the holy Virgin 
Mother in the sufferings of her Son.* I have al- 
ready spoken at length of this form of the Mater 
Dolorosa; the historical version of the same sub- 
ject is what we have now to consider, but only so 
far as regards the figure of the Virgin. 

In a Deposition thus dramatically treated, there 
are always from four to six or eight figures. The 
principal group consists of the dead Saviour and 
his Mother. She generally holds him embraced, 
or bends over him contemplating his dead face, or 
lays her cheek to his with an expression of unutter- 
able grief and love: in the antique conception she 
is generally fainting; the insensibility, the sinking 
sf the whole frame through grief, which in the Cru- 


* C’est ce que l’on a jugé a propos d@’appeler La Compassion 
te la Vierge, autrement Notre Dame de Pitié.”— Vide Batllet 
* Les Fétes Mobiles.” 


THE DEPOSITION. 43% 


rifixion is misplaced, both in regard to the religious 
feeling and the old tradition, is here quite proper.” 
Thus she appears in the genuine Greek and Gre- 
zo-Italian productions of the thirteenth and four- 
teenth centuries, as well as in the two finest ex 
amples that could be cited in more modern 
times. 

1. In an exquisite composition by Raphael, usu- 
ally styled a Pieta, but properly a Deposition, 
there are six figures: the extended form of 
Christ; the Virgin swooning in the arms of 
Mary Salome and Mary Cleophas; Mary Mag- 
dalene sustains the feet of Christ, while her 
sister Martha raises the veil of the Virgin, as 
if to give her air; St. John stands by with 
clasped hands; and Joseph of Arimathea looks 
on the sorrowing group with mingled grief and 
pity-t 

2. Another, an ‘admirable and celebrated com- 
position by Annibale Caracci, known as the Four 
Marys, omits Martha and St. John. ‘The atten- 
tion of Mary Magdalene is fixed on the dead Sav- 
iour; the other two Marys are occupied by the 
fainting Mother. (Castle Howard.) On compar- 
ing this with Raphael’s conception, we find more 


* The reason given is curious: — ‘* Perché quando Gesv pareva 
tormentato essendo vivo, il dolore si partiva fra la santissima 
madre e lui ; ma quando pot egli era morto, tutto il dolore rima: 
weva per la sconsolata madre.” 

1 “his wonderful drawiag (there is no finished picture) was in 
the collection of Count Fries, and then velonged to Sir T. Law 
ence. There is a good engraving by Agricola. 


434 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


of common nature, quite as much pathos, but in 
the forms less of that pure poetic grace, which 
softens at once, and heightens the tragic effect. 

Besides Joseph of Arimathea, we have some- 
times Nicodemus; as in the very fine Deposition 
by Perugino, and in one, not less fine, by Albert 
Durer. In a Deposition by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, 
Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, stands 
near his sister Martha. 

In a picture by Vandyck, the Mother closes the 
eyes of the dead Redeemer: in a picture by Ru- 
bens, she removes a thorn from his wounded brow: 
— both natural and dramatic incidents very char- 
acteristic of these dramatic painters. 

There are some fine examples of this subject in 
the old German school. In spite of ungraceful 
forms, quaint modern costumes, and worse absurdi- 
ties, we often find motifs, unknown in the Italian 
school, most profoundly felt, though not always 
happily expressed. I remember several instances 
in which the Madonna does not sustain her Son; 
but kneeling on one side, and with clasped hands, 
she gazes on him with a look, partly of devotion, 
partly of resignation; both the devotion and the 
resignation predominating over the maternal grief. 
I have been asked, “why no painter has ever 
yet represented the Great Mother as raising her 
aands in thankfulness that her Son had drank the 
tup — had finished the work appointed for him on 
sarth?” This would have been worthy of the 
‘eligious significance of the moment; and I ree 


THE ENTOMBMENT. 435 


pmmend the theme to the consideration of ar: 
tists. * 


Tae ENTOMBMENT follows, and when treatea 
as a strictly historical scene, the Virgin Mother 1s 
always introduced, though here as a less conspicu- 
ous figure, and one less important to the action. 
Either she swoons, which is the ancient Greek 
conception; or she follows, with streaming eyes 
and clasped hands, the pious disciples who bear 
the dead form of her Son, as in Raphael’s wonder- 
ful picture in the Borghese Palace, and Titian’s, 
hardly less beautiful, in the Louvre, where the 
tompassionate Magdalene sustains her veiled and 
weeping figure ;—or she stands by, looking on 
flisconsolate, while the beloved Son is laid in the 
tomb. 


All these fine and important themes belong 
properly to a series of the History of Christ. In 
a series of the Life of the Virgin, the incidents of 
the Passion of our Lord are generally omitted; 
whereas, in the cycle of subjects styled the Rosa- 
RY, the Bearing of the Cross, the Crucifixion, and 


* In the most modern Deposition I have seen (one of infinite 
beauty, and new in arrangement, by Paul Delaroche), the Vir- 
gin, kneeling at some distance, and a little above, contemplates 
her dead Son. The expression and attitude are those of intense 
enguish, and only anguish. Itis she bereaved Mother; itisa 
Praving desolation, which is in the highest degree human andj 
wagic; b-utitis not the trv'y religious conception. 


436 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


the Deposition, are included in the fourth and 
fifth of the “ Sorrowful Mysteries.” I shall have 
much more to say on these subjects when treating 
of the artistic representations from the History of 
Christ. I will only add here, that their frequency 
as separate subjects, and the preéminence given to 
the figure of the Virgin as the Mother of Pity, are 
very suggestive and affecting when we come to 
consider their intention as well as their significance, 
For, in the first place, they were in most instances 
the votive offerings of those who had lost the being 
most dear to them, and thus appealed to the divine 
sompassion of her who had felt that sword “ pierce 
through her own heart also.” In this sense they 
were often suspended as memorials in the chapels 
dedicated to the dead, of which I will cite one very 
beautiful and touching example. There is a votive 
Deposition by Giottino, in which the general con- 
ception is that which belonged to the school, and 
very like Giotto’s Deposition in the Arena at Pad- 
ua. The dead Christ is extended on a white 
shroud, and embraced by the Virgin; at his feet 
kneels the Magdalene, with clasped hands and 
flowing hair; Mary Salome kisses one of his hands, 
and Martha (as I suppose) the other; the third 
Mary, with long hair, and head drooping with 
grief, is seated in front to the right. In the back- 
ground, in the centre, stands St. John, bending 
over the group in profound sorrow; on his left 
hand Joseph of Arimathea stands with the vase of 
“spices and ointments,” and the nails; near bn 


fHE ENTOMBMENT. 434 


Nicodemus. On the right of St. John kneels a 
beautiful young girl, in the rich Florentine cos- 
tame, who, with a sorrowful earnestness and with 
her hands crossed over her bosom, contemplates 
the dead Saviour. St. Romeo (or San Remigio) 
patron of the church in which the picture was ded- 
icated, lays his hand paternally on her head; be- 
side her kneels a Benedictine nun, who in the 
Bame manner is presented by St. Benedict. These 
two females, sisters perhaps, are the bereaved 
mourners who dedicated the picture, certainly one 
of the finest of the Giottesque school.* 

Secondly, we find that the associations left in the 
minds of the people by the expeditions of the Cru- 
saders and the pilgrimages to the Holy Sepulchre, 
rendered the Deposition and the Entombment par- 
ticularly popular and impressive as subjects of art, 
even down to a late period. “ Ce que la vaillante 
épée des ayeux avait glorieusement defendu, le 
ciseaux des enfans aimait & le réproduire, leur 
piété & Vhonorer.” I think we may trace these 


*It is nowin the gallery of the Uffizii, at Florence. In the 
Florentine edition of Vasari the name of the church in which 
this picture was originally placed is called San Romeo, who is 
Bi. Remi (or Remigio), Bishop of Reims. The painter, Giottinu, 
the greatest and the most interesting, personally, of the Giot- 
tesque artists, was, as Vasari says, ‘‘of a melancholy tempera- 
ment, and a lover of solitude; ”’ ‘* more desirous of glory than 
of gain;” ‘‘ contented with little, am: thinking more of serving 
ad gratifying others than of himself;”’ ‘ aking small care for 
himself, and perpetually engrossed by the works he had under- 
taken.’? He died of consumption, in 1856, at the age of thirty 
wo. 


438 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


associations in many examples, particularly in a 
Deposition by Raphael, of which there is a fine old 
engraving. Here, in the centre, stands a circular 
building,-such as the church at Jerusalem was al- 
ways described; in front of which are seen the 
fainting Virgin and the mournful women; a grand 
and solemn group, but poetically rather than his 
torically treated. 


In conclusion, I must notice one more form of 
the Mater Dolorosa, one of the dramatic concep- 
tions of the later schools of art: as far as I know, 
there exist no early examples. 

In a picture by Guercino (Louvre), the Virgin 
and St. Peter lament the death of the Saviour. 
The Mother, with her clasped hands resting on her 
knees, appears lost in resigned sorrow: she mourns 
her Son. Peter, weeping, as with a troubled grief, 
seems to mourn at once his Lord and Master, and 
his own weak denial. ‘This picture has the ener- 
getic feeling and utter want of poetic elevation 
which generally characterized Guercino. 

There is a similar group by Ludovico Caracei 
in the Duomo at Bologna. 

In a picture by Tiarini, the Madre Addolorata 
is seated, holding in her hand the crown of thorns; 
Mary Magdalene kneels before her, and St. John 
stands by — both expressing the utmost veneration 
and sympathy. These and similar groups aré 
especially to be found in the later Bologna school. 
Yn all the instances known to me, they have beep 


THE ENTOMBMENT. 439 


painted for the Dominicans, and evidently in- 
tended to illustrate the sorrows of the Rosary. 

In one of the services of the Passion Week, and 
in particular reference to the maternal anguish of 
the Virgin, it was usual to read, as the Epistle, a 
selection from the first chapter of the Lamenta- 
tions of Jeremiah, eloquent in the language of des 
olation and grief. The painters seemed to have 
filled their imagination with the images there pre- 
sented; and frequently in the ideal Pieia the 
daughter of Jerusalem “sits solitary, with none to 
comfort her.” It is the contrary in the dramatic 
version: the devotion of the women, the solicitude 
of the affectionate Magdalene, and the filial rever- 
ence of St. John, whom the scriptural history asso- 

ciates with the Virgin in a manner so affecting, are 
’ never forgotten. 

In obedience to the last command of his dying 
Master, John the Evangelist — 


“ He, into whose keeping, from the cross, 
The mighty charge was given —”’ 
DANTE. 


conducted to his own dwelling the Mother to whom 
he was henceforth to be asa Son. This beautiful 
subject, “ John conducting the Virgin to his home,” 
was quite unknown, as far as I am aware, in the 
earlier schools of art, and appears first in the sev- 
enteenth century. An eminent instance is a fine 
solemn group by Zurbaran. (Munich.) Christ 
was laid in the sepulchre by night, and here, in the 


44.0 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


gray dawn, John and the veiled Virgin are seen 
as returning from the entombment, and walking 
mournfully side by side. 


We find the peculiar relation between the 
Mother of Christ and St. John, as her adopted son, 
expressed in a very tender and ideal manner, on 
one of the wings of an altar-piece, attributed to 
Taddeo Gaddi. (Berlin Gal., No. 1081.) Mary 
and St. John stand in front; he helds one of her 
hands clasped in both his own, with a most rever- 
ent and affectionate expression. Christ, standing 
between them, lays one hand on the shoulder of 
each: the sentiment of this grou is altogether 
very unusual; and very remarkab'e. 


HISTORICAL SUBJECTS. 


PART IV. 


THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN MARY FROM 
THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD 
TO THE ASSUMPTION. 


1. THE APPARITION OF CHRIST TO HIS MOTH- 
ER. 2. THE ASCENSION. 8. THE DESCENT OF 
THE HOLY GHOST. 4. THE DEATH OF THE VIR- 
GIN. 5. THE ASSUMPTION AND CORONATION. 


THE APPARITION OF CHRIST TO HIS MOTHER. 


Tue enthusiastic and increasing veneration for 
the Madonna, the large place she filled in the 
religious teaching of the ecclesiastics and the re- 
ligious sentiments. of the people, are nowhere 
more apparent, nor more strikingly exhibited, than 
in the manner in which she was associated with the 
scenes which followed the Passion ; — the manner 
in which some incidents were suggested, and treat- 
ed with a peculiar reference to her, and to her 
maternal feelings. It is nowhere said that the 
Virgin Mother was one of the Marys who visited 
the tomb on the morning of the resurrection, and 
nowhere is she so represented. But out of the hu- 
man sympathy with that bereaved and longing 


442 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


heart, arose the beautiful legend of the interview 
detween Christ and his Mother after he had risen 
. from the dead. 

There existed a very ancient tradition (it is 
mentioned by St. Ambrose in the fourth century, 
as being then generally accepted by Christians), 
that Christ, after his return from Hades, visited his 
Mother even before he appeared to Mary Magda- 
lene in the garden. It is not indeed so written in 
the Gospel; but what of that? The reasoning 
which led to the conclusion was very simple. He 
whose last earthly thought was for his Mother 
would not leave her without that consolation it was 
in his power to give ; and what, as a son, it was his 
duty to do (for the humanity of Christ is never for- 
gotten by those who most intensely believed in his 
divinity,) that, of course, he did do. 

The story is thus related : — Mary, when all was 
“ finished,” retired to her chamber, and remained 
alone with her grief— not wailing, not repining, 
not hopeless, but waiting for the fulfilment of the 
promise. Open before her lay the volume of the 
prophecies; and she prayed earnestly, and she 
said, “ Thou didst promise, O my most dear Son! 
that thou wouldst rise again on the third day. 
Before yesterday was the day of darkness and bit- 
terness, and, behold, this is the third day. Return 
then to me thy Mother; O my Son, tarry not, but 
come!” And while thus she prayed, lo! a bright 
company of angels, who entered waving their 
palms and radiant with joy; and they surrounded 


APPARITION OF CHRIST TO HIS MOTHER. 444 


ner, kneeling and singing the triumphant Easter 
hymn, Regina Celi letare, Alleluia! * And then 
eame Christ partly clothed in a white garment, 
having in his left hand the standard of the cross, as 
one just returned from the nether world, and victo- 
rious over the powers of sin and death. And with 
him came the patriarchs and prophets, whose long- 
imprisoned spirits he had released from Hades.t 
All these knelt before the Virgin, and saluted her, 
and blessed her, and thanked her, because through 
her had come their deliverance. But, for all this, 
the Mother was not comforted till she had heard 
the voice of her Son. Then he, raising his hand 
in benediction, spoke and said, “I salute thee, O 
my Mother!” and she, weeping tears of joy, re- 
sponded, “Is it thou indeed, my most dear Son?” 
and she fell upon his neck, and he embraced her 
tenderly, and showed her the wounds he had re- 
ceived for sinful man. Then he bid her be com- 
forted and weep no more, for the pain of death 
had passed away, and the gates of hell had not 
prevailed against him. And she thanked him 
meekly on her knees, for that he had been pleased 
to bring redemption to man, and to make her the 
humble instrument of his great mercy. And they 


* * Regina Coeli letare Alleluia! 
Quia quem meruisti portare, Alleluia ! 
Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia! 
Ura pro nobis Deum, Alleluia ! ” 
} The legend of the ‘“‘ Descen® into Hades ’ (or limbo), often 
weuted of in art, will be given at length ir the History of ow 
Lord. 


444 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


sat and talked together, until he took leave of 
her to return to the garden, and to show him- 
self to Mary Magdalene, who, next to his glorious 
Mother, had most need of consolation.* 

The pathetic sentiment, and all the supernatural 
and mystical accompaniments of this beautiful 
myth of the early ages, have been very inade- 
quately rendered by the artists. It is always 
treated as a plain matter-of-fact scene. The Vir- 
gin kneels; the Saviour, bearing his standard, 
stands before her; and where the delivered patri- 
archs are introduced, they are generally either 
Adam and Eve, the authors of the fall, or Abraham 
and David, the progenitors of Christ and the Vir- 
gin. The patriarchs are omitted in the earliest in- 
stance I can refer to, one of the carved panels of 
the stalls in the Cathedral of Amiens; also in the 


* T have given the legend from various sources; but there is 
something quite untranslatable and perfectly beautiful in the 
naiveté of the old Italian version. After describing the celestial 
music of the angols, the rejoicing of the liberated patriarchs, and 
the appearance of Christ, allegro, e bello e tetto lucido, it thus 
proceeds : ‘‘ Quando ella lo vidde, gli andd incontro ella ancora 
con le braccta aperte, e quasi tramortita per V’ allegrezza. Il be- 
nedetto Gesu l’ abbraccio teneressimamente, ed ella gli disse ; ‘Ahi, 
Jigliuolo mio cordialissimo, sei tu veramente il mio Gesi, 6 pur 
nm inganna l affetto!’ ‘Io sono il tuo figliuolo, madre mia dol- 
sissima, disse il Signore: ‘cessino hormai le tue lagrime, non 
fare ch’ io ti veda pid di mala voglia. Gid son finiti li tuoi e ls 
miei travagli e dolori insieme!? Erano rimase alcune lagrime ng 
gli occht della Vergine ... . e perla grande allegrezza non po 
teva proferire parola alcuna..... ma quando al fine pote par 
‘are, lo ringrazio per parte di tutto il genere humano, per la re 
senzione, operata e fatta, per tutto generalmente.” —v. Ii Perjet 
o Legendarto 


APPARITION OF CHRIST TO HIS MOTHER. 445 


composition by Albert Durer, not included in his 
life of the Virgin, but forming one of the series of 
the Passion. Guido has represented the scene in 
a very fine picture, wherein an angel bears the 
standard of victory, and behind our Saviour are 
Adam and Eve. (Dresden Gal.) 

Another example, by Guercino (Cathedral, Cen- 
to), is cited by Goethe as an instance of that excel- 
ence in the expression of the natural and domestic 
affections which characterized the painter. Mary 
kneels before her Son, looking up in his face with 
unutterable affection ; he regards her with a calm, 
sad look, “ as if within his noble soul there still re- 
mained the recollection of his sufferings and hers, 
outliving the pang of death, the descent into the 
grave, and which the resurrection had not yet dis- 
pelled.” ‘This, however, is not the sentiment, at 
once affectionate and joyously triumphant, of the 
old legend. I was pleased with a little picture in 
the Lichtenstein Gallery at Vienna, where the 
risen Saviour, standing before his Mother, points to 
the page of the book before her, as if he said, “ See 
you not that thus it is written ?” (Luke xxiv. 46.) 
Behind Jesus is St. John the Evangelist bearing 
the cup and the cross, as the cup of sorrow and the 
tross of pain, not the mere emblems. There is 
another example, by one of the Caracci, in the 
Fitzwilliam Collection at Cambridge. 

A picture by Albano of this subject, in which 
Christ comes flying or floating on the aur, like an 
meorporeal being, surrounded by little fluttering 

29 


446 LEGENDS OF THE MADUNNA. 


cherubim, very much like Cupids, is an example 
of all that is most false and objectionable in feeling 
and treatment. (Florence, Pitti Pal.) 

The popularity of this scene in the Bologna 
school of art arose, I think, from its being adopted 
as one of the subjects from the Rosary, the first of 
“the five Glorious Mysteries ;” therefore espe- 
cially affected by the Dominicans, the great pa- 
trons of the Caracci at that time. 


THE ASCENSION, though one of the “ Glorious 
Mysteries,” was also accounted as the seventh and 
last of the sorrows of the Virgin, for she was then 
left alone on earth. All the old legends represent 
her as present on this occasion, and saying, as she 
followed with uplifted eyes the soaring figure of 
Christ, “‘ My Son, remember me when thou comest 
to thy kingdom! Leave me not long after thee, 
my Son!” In Giotto’s composition in the chapel 
of the Arena, at Padua, she is by far the most 
prominent figure. In almost all the late pictures 
of the Ascension, she is introduced with the other 
Marys, kneeling on one side, or placed in the cen- 
tre among the apostles. 


THE DESCENT OF THE HoLy GHOST 1s a 
strictly scriptural subject. I have heard it said 
that the introduction of Mary is not authorized by 
che scripture narrative. I must observe, however 


THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST. 447 


that, without any wringing of the text for an espe 
cial purpose, the passage might be so interpreted 
In the first chapter of the Acts (ver. 14), after 
enumerating the apostles by name, it is added, 
* These all continued with one accord in prayer 
and supplication, with the women and Mary the 
mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.” And in 
the commencement of the second chapter the nar 
rative thus proceeds: “ And when the day of Pen- 
tecost was fully come, they were all with one 
accord in one place.” ‘The word all is, in the 
Concordance, referred to the previous text (ver. . 
14), as including Mary and the women: thus they 
who were constant in their love were not refused a 
participation in the gifts of the Spirit. Mary, in 
her character of the divine Mother of Wisdom, or 
even Wisdom herself,* did not, perhaps, need any 
accession of intellectual light ; but we must remem- 
ber that the Holy Spirit was the Comforter, as 
well as the Giver of wisdom; therefore, equally 
needed by those, whether men or women, who 
were all equally called upon to carry out the min- 
istry of Christ in love and service, in doing and in 
suffering. 

In the account of the apostles I have already 
described at length the various treatment and most 
celebrated examples of this subject, and shall only 
make one or two observations with especial refer- 
ence to the figure of the Virgin. It was in accord- 


* The sublime eulogium of Wisdom (Prov. viii. 22), is, in ths 
Roman Catholic Church, applied t) the Virgin Marv. 


448 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


ance with the feelings and convictions prevalent im 
the fifteenth century, that if Mary were admitted 
to be present, she would take the principal place, 
as Queen and Mother of the Apostles (Regina et 
Mater Apostolorum). She is, ‘therefore, usually 
placed either in front, or in the centre on a raised 
seat or dais; and often holding a book (as the 
Mater Sapientie); and she receives the divine 
affusion either with veiled lids and meek rejoicing , 
or with uplifted eyes, as one inspired, she pours 
forth the hymn, Veni, Sancte Spiritus. 

I agree with the critics that, as the Spirit de- 
“scended in form of cloven tongues of fire, the em- 
blem of the Dove, almost always introduced, is 
here superfluous, and, indeed, out of place. 


I must mention here another subject altogether 
apocryphal, and confined to the late Spanish and 
Italian schools: The Virgin receives the sac- 
ramental wafer from the hand of St. John the 
Evangelist. This is frequently misunderstood, and 
styled the Communion of Mary Magdalene. But 
the long hair and uncovered head of the Magda- 
lene, and the episcopal robe of St. Maximin, are 
in general distinguishable from the veiled matronly 
head of the Virgin Mother, and the deacon’s vest 
of St. John. There is also a legend that Mary 
received baptism from St. Peter; but this is a sub: 
ject I have never met with in art, ancient or mod 
wn. It may possibly exist. 


THE LAST YEARS OF THE VIRGIN. 44$ 


I am not acquainted with any reresentations 
ken from the sojourn on earth of the Blessed Vir- 
gin from this time to the period of her death, the 
date of which is uncertain. It is, however, generally 
supposed to have taken place in the forty-eighth 
year of our era, and about eleven years after the 
Crucifixion, therefore in her sixtieth year. There 
is no distinct record, either historical or legendary, 
as to the manner in which she passed these years. 
There are, indeed, floating traditions alluded to by 
the early theological writers, that when the first 
persecution broke out at Jerusalem, Mary accom- 
panied St. John the Evangelist to Ephesus, and 
was attended thither by the faithful and affection- 
ate Mary Magdalene. Also that she dwelt for some 
time on Mount Carmel, in an oratory erected there 
by the prophet Elijah, and hence became the pa- 
troness of the Carmelites, under the title of Our 
Lady of Mount Carmel (Za Madonna del Carmine, 
or del Carmelo). If there exist any creations of the 
artists founded on these obscure traditions, which is 
indeed most probable, particularly in the edifices 
of the Carmelites in Spain, I have not met with 
them. 


It is related that before the apostles separated to 
vbey the command of their divine Master, and 
treach the gospel to all the nations of the earth, 
they took a solemn leave of the Virgin Mary, and 
received her blessing. This suoject has been rep- 
resented, though not by any distinguished artist. [ 


450 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


remember such a picture, apparently of the six: 
teenth century, in the Church of S. Maria-in-Cap- 
itolio at Cologne, and another, by Bissoni, in the 


San GiuStina at Padua. (Sacred and Legendary. 


Art.) 


CHE DEATH AND ASSUMPTION OF THE 
VIRGIN. 


«at. Dormitio, Pausatio, Transitus, Assumptio, B Virginis. 
Jtal. Tl Transito di Maria. Il Sonno della Beata Vergine 
L’ Assunzione. Fr. La Mort de la Vierge. L’Assomption 
Ger. Das Absterben der Maria. Maria Himmelfahrt. Au 
gust, 18, 15. 


WE approach the closing scenes. 

Of all the representations consecrated to the glory 
of the Virgin, none have been more popular, more 
multiplied through every form of art, and more ad- 
mirably treated, than her death and apotheosis. The 
latter in particular, under the title of “the Assump- 
tion,” became the visible expression of a dogma of 
faith then universally received — namely, the exalta- 
tion and deification of the Virgin in the body as well 
as in the spirit. As such it meets us at every turn 
in the edifices dedicated to her; in painting over 
the altar, in sculpture over the portal, or gleaming 
upon us in light from the shining many-coloured 
windows. Sometimes the two subjects are com- 
hined, and the death-scene (JI transito di Maria) 
figured below, is, in fact, only the ¢ransition to the 
plessedness and exaltation figured above. But 


THE DEATH OF THE MADONNA. 454 


whether separate or combined, the two scenes, ix 
themselves most beautiful and touching, — the ex- 
tremes of the mournful and the majestic, the dra- 
matic and the ideal, — offered to the medieval ar- 
lists such a breadth of space for the exhibition of 
feeling and fancy as no other subject afforded. 
Consequently, among the examples handed down 
to us, are to be found some of the most curious and 
important relics of the early schools, while others 
rank among the grandest productions of the best 
ages of art. 

For the proper understanding of these, it is ne- 
cessary to give the old apocryphal legend at some 
length; for, although the very curious and extrava- 
gant details of this legend were not authorized by 
the Church as matters of fact or faith, it is clear 
that the artists were permitted thence to derive 
their materials and their imagery. In what man- 
ner they availed themselves of this permission, and 
how far the wildly poetical circumstances with 
which the old tradition was gradually invested, 
were allowed to enter into the forms of art, we 
shall afterwards consider. 


THE LEGEND OF tHE DEATH AND ASSUMPTION 
OF THE MOST GLORIOUS VIRGIN MARY. 


Mary dwelt in the house of John upon Mount Sion 
A#oking for the fulfilment of the promise of deliverance, 
and she spent her days in visiting those places which had 
geen hallowed by the baptism, ‘he sufferings, the burial 


452 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


and resurrection of her divine Son, but more particularly 
the tomb wherein he was laid. And she did not this as 
seeking the living among the degn. but for consolation and 
for remembrance. 

And on a certain day, the heart of the Virgin, being 
filled with an inexpressible longing to behold her Son 
melted away within her, and she wept abundantly. And, 
lo! an angel appeared before her clothed in light as with 
garment. And he saluted her, and said, “ Hail, O Mary! 
blessed by him who hath given salvation to Israel! I bring 
thee here a branch of palm gathered in Paradise; com- 
mand that it be carried before thy bier in the day of thy 
death; for in three days thy soul shall leave thy body, and 
thou shalt enter into Paradise, where thy Son awaits thy 
coming.’’ Mary, answering, said, “‘ If I have found grace 
in thy eyes, tell me first what is thy name; and grant that 
the apostles my brethren may be reunited to me before I 
die, that in their presence I may give up my soul to God. 
Also, I pray thee, that my soul, when delivered from my 
body, may not be affrighted by any spirit of darkness, nor 
any evil angel be allowed to have any power over me.” 
And the angel said, “Why dost thou ask my name? 
My name is the Great and the Wonderful. And now 
doubt not that all the apostles shall be reunited to thee this 
day; for he who in former times transported the prophet 
Habakkuk from Judea to Jerusalem by the hair of his 
head, can as easily bring hither the apostles. And fear 
thou not the evil spirit, for hast thou not bruised his head 
and destroyed his kingdom?’’? And having said these 
words, the angel departed into heaven; and the palm 
branch which he had left behind him shed light from 
every leaf, and sparkled as the stars of the morning 
Then Mary lighted the lamps and prepared her bed, and 
waited until the hour was come. And in the same in- 
stant John, who was preaching at Ephesus, and Freter 
who was preaching at Antioch, and all the other apostles 
who were dispersed in different parts of the world, wey 


THE DEATH OF THE MADONNA. 453 


suddenly caught up as by a miraculous power, and touna 
themselves before the door of the habitation of Mary 
When Mary saw them all assembled round her, sha 
blessed and thanked the Lord, and she placed in the 
mands of St. John the shining palm, and desired that he 
should bear it before her at the time of her burial. Then 
Mary, kneeling down, made her prayer to the Lord her 
Son, and the others prayed with her; then she laid her- 
self down in her bed and composed herself for death. 
And John wept bitterly. And about the third hour of the 
night, as Peter stood at the head of the bed and John at 
the foot, and the other apostles around, a mighty sound 
filled the house, and a delicious perfume filled the cham- 
oer. And Jesus himself appeared accompanied by an in- 
numerable company of angels, patriarchs, and prophets; 
all these surrounded the bed of the Virgin, singing hymns 
of joy. And Jesus said to his Mother, “ Arise, my beloved, 
mine elect! come with me from Lebanon, my espoused! 
receive the crown that is destined for thee!’? And Mary, 
answering, said, “ My heart is ready; for it was written 
of me that I should do thy will!’’ Then all the angels 
and blessed spirits who accompanied Jesus began to sing 
and rejoice. And the soul of Mary left her body, and was 
received into the arms of her Son; and together they as- 
cended into heaven.* And the apostles looked up, say- 
ing, “Oh most prudent Virgin, remember us when thou 
comest to glory!’’ and the angels, who received her into 
heaven, sung these words, “‘ Who is this that cometh up 
from the wilderness leaning upon her Beloved? she is 
fairer than all the daughters of Jerusalem.”’ 


* In the later French legend, it is the angel Michael wno 
‘akes charge of the departing soul. ‘* Ecce Dominus ventt cur 
wultitudine angelorum ; et Jésus Christ vint en grande com- 
paignie d’anges ; entre lesquels estoit Sainct Michel, et quand 
la Vierge Marie le veit elle dit, ‘ Benoist soit Jésus Christ car if 
we m’a pas oubliée.’ Quand eile eut ce dit elle reudit esprit. 
quel Sainct Michel pzint.” 


454 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


But the body of Mary remained upon the earth; and 
three among the virgins prepared to wash and clothe it in 
a shroud; but such a glory of light surrounded her form, 
that though they touched it they could not see it, and no 
human eye beheld those chaste and sacred limbs un- 
clothed. Then the apostles took her up reverently and 
placed her upon a bier, and John, carrying the celestial 
palm, went before. Peter sung the 114th Psalm, “Jn earits 
Israel de Egypto, domus Jacob de populo barbaro,” and the 
angels followed after, also singing. The wicked Jews, 
hearing these melodious voices, ran together; and the 
high-priest, being seized with fury, laid his hands upon 
the bier intending to overturn it on the earth; but both 
his arms were suddenly dried up, so that he could not 
move them, and he was overcome with fear; and he 
prayed to St. Peter for help, and Peter said, “‘ Have faith 
in Jesus Christ, and his Mother, and thou shalt be heal- 
ed:”’ and it was so. Then they went on and laid the 
Virgin in a tomb in the Valley of Jehoshaphat.* 

And on the third day, Jesus said to the angels, “ What 
honour shall I confer on her who was my mother on earth, 
and brought me forth?’’ And they answered, “ Lord, 
suffer not that body which was thy temple and thy dwell- 
ing to see corruption; but place her beside thee on thy 
tbrone in heaven.’’ And Jesus consented; and the Arch- 
angel Michael brought unto the Lord the glorious soul of 
our Lady. And the Lord said, “ Rise up, my dove, my 
undefiled, for thou shalt not remain in the darkness of the 
grave, nor shalt thou see corruption;”’ and immediately the 
soul of Mary rejoined her body, and she arose up glorious 
from the tomb, and ascended into heaven surrounded and 
welcomed by troops of angels, blowing their silver trum- 


* Or Gethsemane. I must observe here, that in the genuine 
priental legend, it is Michael the Archangel who hews off the 
aands of ‘he audacious Jew, which were afterwards, at the ip 
bersession \f St. Peter, reunited to his body. 


DEATH AND ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN. 4558 


pets, touching their golden lutes, singing, and rejoicing as 
they sung, “ Whois she that riseth as the morning, fair as 
the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with 
danners?’’ (Cant. vi. 10.) 

But one among the apostles was absent; and when he ar- 
rived soon after, he would not believe in the resurrecticn of 
the Virgin; and this apostle was the same Thomas, who 
had formerly been slow to believe in the resurrection of 
the Lord; and he desired that the tomb should be opened 
before him; and when it was opened it was found to be 
full of lilies and roses. Then Thomas, looking up to 
heaven, beheld the Virgin bodily, in a glory of light, 
slowly mounting towards the heaven; and she, for the 
assurance of his faith, flung down to him her girdle, the 
same which is to this day preserved in the cathedral 
of Prato. And there were present at the death of the 
Virgin Mary, besides the twelve apostles, Dionysius the 
Areopagite, Timotheus, and Hierotheus; and of the 
women, Mary Salome, Mary Cleophas,* and a faithful 
handmaid whose name was Savia. 


This legend of the Death and Assumption of the 
Virgin has afforded to the artists seven distinct 
acenes. 

1. The Angel, bearing the palm, announces to 
Mary her approaching death. The announcing 
angel is usually supposed to be Gabriel, but it is 
properly Michael, the “angel of death.” 2. She 
takes leave of the Apostles. 3. Her Death. 4. 
She is borne to the Sepulchre. 5. Her Entom}- 
ment. 6. Her Assumption, wnere she rises tri- 
umphant and glorious, “like unto the morning” 


* According to the French legend. Mary Magdalene and het 
ister Martha were also present. 


156 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA, 


(“‘ quasi aurora consurgens”). 7. Her Coronation 
in heaven, where she takes her place beside her 
Son. ; 

In early art, particularly in the Gothic sculpture, 
two or more of these subjects are generally grouped 
together. Sometimes we have the death-scene and 
the entombment on a line below, and. above these, 
the coronation or the assumption, as over the portal 
of Notre Dame at Paris, and in many other in- 
stances; or we have first her death, above this, he» 
assumption, and, above all, her coronation; as ove 
the portal at Amiens and elsewhere. 


I shall now take these subjects in their order. 


Tok ANGEL ANNOUNCING TO MARY HER 
APPROACHING DEATH has been rarely treated. 
In general, Mary is seated or standing, and the 
angel kneels before her, bearing the starry palm 
brought from Paradise. In the frescoes at Orvieto, 
and in the bas-relief of Orcagna,* the angel comes 
flying downwards with the palm. In a predella by 
Fra Filippo Lippi, the angel kneels, reverently 
presenting a taper, which the Virgin receives with 
majestic grace ; St. Peter stands behind. It was 
the custom to place a taper in the hand of a dying 
person ; and as the palm is also given sometimes to 
the angel of the incarnation, while the taper can 
have but one meaning, the significance of the scene 

* On the beautiful shrine in Or-San-Michele, at Florence. 


THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. 457 


ss here tixed beyond the possibility of mistake, 
though there is a departure from the literal details 
of the old legend. There is in the Munich Gallery 
a curious German example of this subject by Hans 
Schauffelein. 


THe DEATH OF THE VIRGIN is styled in By- 
zantine and old Italian art the Sleep of the Virgin, 
Il Sonno della Madonna ; for it was an old super- 
stition, subsequently rejected as heretical, that she 
did not really die after the manner of common mor- 
tals, only fell asleep till her resurrection. There- 
fore, perhaps, it is, that in the early pictures we 
have before us, not so much a scene or action, as a 
sort of mysterious rite ; it is not the Virgin dead or 
dying in her bed; she only slumbers in prepara- 
tion for her entombment; while in the later pic- 
tures, we have a death-bed scene with all the usual 
dramatic and pathetic accessories. 

In one sense or the other, the theme has been con- 
stantly treated, from the earliest ages of the revival 
of art down to the seventeenth century. 

In the most ancient examples which are derived 
from the Greek school, it is always represented 
with a mystical and solemn simplicity, adhering 
closely to the old legend, and to the formula laid 
down in the Greek Manual. 

There is such a picture in the Wallerstein Col- 
tection at Kensington Palace. The couch or bier 
# in the centre of the picture, and Mary lier 


58 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


upon it wrapped in a veil and mantle with closed 
eyes and hands crossed over her bosom. The 
twelve apostles stand round in attitudes of grief 
angels attend bearing tapers. Behind the extend- 
ed form of the Virgin is the figure of Christ; a glo- 
rious red seraph with expanded wings hovers abo 
his head. He holds in his arms the soul of the Vir 
gin in likeness of a new-born child. On each side 
stand St. Dionysius the Areopagite, and St. Timo. 
thy, Bishop of Ephesus, in episcopal robes. In 
front, the archangel Michael bends forward to 
strike off the hands of the high-priest Adonijah, 
who had attempted to profane the bier. (This 
last circumstance is rarely expressed, except in the 
Byzantine pictures; for in the Italian legend, the 
hands of the intruder wither and adhere to the bed 
or shrine.) In the picture just described, all is at 
once simple, and formal, and solemn, and supernat- 
ural; it is a very perfect example in its way of the 
genuine Byzantine treatment. There is a similar 
picture in the Christian museum of the Vatican. 
Another (the date about the first half of the 
fourteenth century, as I think) is curious from the 
introduction of the women.* The Virgin lies on 
an embroidered sheet held reverently by angels 
at the feet and at the head other angels bear ta- 
pers; Christ receives the departing soul, which 
stretches out its arms; St. John kneels in front 
and St. Peter reads the service ; the other apostles 
are behind him, and there are three women. The 
* At present in the collestion of Mr. Bromley, of Wootten. 





THE DEATH CF THE VIRGIN. 459 


execution of this curious picture is extremely rude, 
but the heads very fine. Cimabue painted the 
Death of the Virgin at Assisi. There is a beauti- 
ful example by Giotto, where two lovely ange's 
stand at the head and two at the feet, sustaining 
the pall on which she lies; another most exquisite 
by Angelico in the Florence Gallery; another most 
beautiful and pathetic by Taddeo Bartoli in the Pa- 
lazzo Publico at Siena. 

The custom of representing Christ as standing by 
the couch or tomb of his mother, in the act of re- 
ceiving her soul, continued down to the fifteenth 
century, at least with slight deviations from the 
original conception. The later treatment is quite 
different. The solemn mysterious sleep, the transi- 
tion from one life to another, became a familiar 
death-bed scene with the usual moving accompani- 
ments. But even while avoiding the supernatural 
incidents, the Italians gave to the representation 
much ideal elegance ; for instance, in the beautiful 
fresco by Ghirlandajo. (Florence, S. Maria-No- 
vella.) 


In the old German school we have that homely 
matter-of-fact feeling, and dramatic expression, and 
defiance of all chronological propriety, which be- 
longed to the time and school. The composition 
by Albert Durer, in his series of the Life of the 
Virgin, has great beautv and simplicity of expres- 
sion, and in the arrangement a degrse of grandeur 
and repose which has caused it to be often copied 


460 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


and reproduced as a picture, though the original 
form is merely that of a wood-cut.* In the cen- 
tre is a bedstead with a canopy, on which Mary 
lies fronting the spectator, her eyes half closed. 
On the left of the bed stands St. Peter, habited as 
a bishop; he places a taper in her dying hand; 
another apostle holds the asperge with which te 
sprinkle her with holy water; another reads the 
service. In the foreground is a priest bearing a 
eross, and another with incense; and on the right, 
the other apostles in attitudes of devotion and grief. 

Another picture by Albert Durer, once in the 
Fries Gallery, at Vienna, unites, in a most remark- 
able manner, all the legendary and supernatural 
incidents with the most intense and homely reality. 
It appears to have been painted for the Emperor 
Maximilian, as a tribute to the memory of his first 
wife, the interesting Maria of Burgundy. The 
disposition of the bed is the same as in the wood-cut, 
the foot towards the spectator. The face of the 
dying Virgin is that of the young duchess. On 
the right, her son, afterwards Philip of Spain, and 
father of Charles V., stands as the young St. John, 
and presents the taper ; the other apostles are seen 
around, most of them praying; St. Peter, habited 
as bishop, reads from an open book (this is the por- 
trait of George & Zlatkonia, bishop of Vienna, the 
friend and counsellor of Maximilian); behind him, 
as one of the apostles, Maximilian himself, witk 


* There is one such copy in the Sutherland Gallery; and sn 
“ther in the Munich Gallery, Cabinet viii. 161. 


THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. 461 


nead bowed down, asin sorrow. Three ecclesias- 
tics are seen entering by an open door, bearing 
the cross, the censer, and the holy water. Over 
the bed is seen the figure of Christ; in his arms, 
the soul of the Virgin, in likeness of an infant with 
clasped hands; and above all, in an open glory 
and like a vision, her reception and coronation 
in heaven. Upon a scroll over her head, are the 
words, “ Surge propera, amica mea; veni de Ii- 
bano, veni coronaberis.” (Cant. iv. 8.) Three 
among the hovering angels bear scrolls, on one 
of which is inscribed the text from the Canticles, 
“ Que est ista que progreditur quasi aurora consur- 
gens, pulchra ut luna, electa ut sol, terribilis ut castro- 
rum acies ordinata?” (Cant. vi. 10;) on another, 
“ Que est ista que ascendit de deserto deliciis afflu- 
ens super dilectum suum?” (Cant. vil. 5;) and on 
the third, “ Que est ista que ascendit super dilec- 
tum suum ut virgula fumi?” (Cant. iii. 6.) This 
picture bears the date 1518. If it be true, as is, 
indeed, most apparent, that it was painted by order 
of Maximilian nearly forty years after the loss ot 
the young wife he so tenderly loved, and only one 
year before his own death, there is something very 
touching in it as a memorial. The ingenious and 
tender compliment implied by making Mary of 
Burgundy the real object of those mystic texts con- 
secrated to the glory of the Mater DEI, verges, 
perhaps, on the profane; but it was not so in- 
vended; it was merely that combination of the 
pious, and the poetical, and the sentimental, which 
30 


162 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


was one ot the characteristics of the time, in litera- 
ture, as well asin art. (Heller's Albrecht Diirer 
p- 261.) 

The picture by Jan Schoreel, one of the great 
ornaments of the Boisserée Gallery,* is remarkable 
for its intense reality and splendour of colour. 
The heads are full of character; that of the Virgin 
in particular, who seems, with half-closed eyes, in 
act to breathe away her soul in rapture. The al- 
tar near the bed, having on it figures of Moses and 
Aaron, is, however, a serious fault and incongruity 
in this fine painting. 

J must observe that Mary is not always dead or 
dying; she is sometimes preparing for death, in the 
act of prayer at the foot of her couch, with the 
apostles standing round, as in a very fine picture 
by Martin Schaffner, where she kneels with a love- 
ly expression, sustained in the arms of St. John, 
while St. Peter holds the gospel open before her. 
(Munich Gal.) Sometimes she is sitting up in her 
bed, and reading from the Book of the Scripture, 
which is always held by St. Peter. 

In a picture by Cola della Matrice, the Death of 
the Virgin is treated at once in a mystical and dra- 
matic style. Enveloped in a dark blue mantle 
spangled with golden stars, she lies extended on a 
vouch; St. Peter, in a splendid scarlet cope as 
bishop, reads the service; St. John, holding the 
palm, weeps bitterly. In front, and kneeling be 


* Munich (70). The admirable lithograph by Strixner is wel 
cnowa. 


THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. 468 


for the coach or bier, appear the three great Do- 
minican saints as witnesses of the religious mystery , 
in the centre, St. Dominick ; on the left, St. Cathe- 
rine of Siena; and on the right, St. Thomas Aqui- 
nas. In a compartment above is the Assumption. 
(Rome, Capitol.) 


Among the later Italian examples, where the old 
legendary accessories are generally omitted, there 
are some of peculiar elegance. One by Ludovico 
Caracci, another by Domenichino, and a third by 
Carlo Maratti, are treated, if not with much of 
poetry or religious sentiment, yet with great dig- 
nity and pathos. 

I must mention one more, because of its history 
and celebrity: Caravaggio, of whom it was said 
that he always painted like a ruffian, because he 
was a ruffian, was also a genius in his way, and for 
a few months he became the fashion at Rome, and 
was even patronized by some of the higher ecclesi- 
astics. He painted for the church of la Scala in 
Trastevere a picture of the Death of the Virgin, 
wonderful for the intense natural expression, and 
m the same degree grotesque from its impropriety. 
Mary, instead of being decently veiled, lies extend- 
ed with long scattered hair; the strongly marked 
features and large proportions of the figure are 
those of a woman of the Trastevere.* The apos- 


* The fare has a swollen look, andj it was said that his model 
had been a common woman whose fea‘ures were swelled by im 
toxication. (Louvre, 32.) 


£64 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


tles stand around ; one or two of them — I must use 
the word — blubber aloud: Peter thrusts his fista 
into his eyes to keep back the tears; a woman 
seated if front cries and sobs; nothing can be more 
real, nor more utterly vulgar. The ecclesiastics 
for whom the picture was executed were so scan- 
dalized, that they refused to hang it up in their 
church. It was purchased by the Duke of Man- 
tua, and, with the rest of the Mantuan Gallery, 
came afterwards into the possession of our unfortu- 
nate Charles I. On the dispersion of his pictures, 
it found its way into the Louvre, where it now is. 
It has been often engraved. 


THe APOSTLES CARRY THE BODY OF THE 
VIRGIN TO THE TOMB. This is a very uncom- 
mon subject. There is a most beautiful example 
by Taddeo Bartoli (Siena, Pal. Publico), full of 
profound religious feeling. There is a small en- 
graving by Bonasoni, in a series of the Life of the 
Virgin, apparently after Parmigiano, in which the 
apostles bear her on their shoulders over rocky 
ground, and appear to be descending into the Val- 
ley of Jehoshaphat: underneath are these lines: —- 


“ Portan gli uomini santi in su le spalle 
Al Sepolcro il corpo di Maria 
Di Josaphat nella famosa valle.” 


There is another picture of this subject by Lu 
fovico Caracci, at Parma. 


THE ASSUMPTION. 468 


Tur, ENtoMBMENT. In the early pictures, 
there is little distinction between this subject and 
the Death of the Virgin. If the figure of Christ 
stand over the recumbent form, holding in his arma 
the emancipated soul, then it is the Transito — th» 
death or sleep; but when a sarcophagus is in the 
centre of the picture, and the body lies extended 
above it on a sort of sheet or pall held by angels or 
apostles, it may be determined that it is the En- 
tombment of the Virgin after her death. In a 
small and very beautiful picture by Angelico, we 
have distinctly this representation.* She lies, like 
one asleep, on a white pall, held reverently by the 
mourners. They prepare to lay her in a marble 
sarcophagus. St. John, bearing the starry palm, 
appears to address a man in a doctor’s cap and 
gown, evidently intended for Dionysius the Areop- 
agite. Above, in the sky, the soul of the Virgin, 
surrounded by most graceful angels, is received in- 
to heaven. This group is distinguished from the 
group below, by being painted in a dreamy bluish 
tint, like solidified light, or like a vision. 


Tue Assumption. The old painters distinguish 
between the Assumption of the soul and the As- 
sumption of the body of the Virgin. In the first 
instance, at the moment the soul is separated from 

* This picture, now in the possession of W. Fuller Maitland, 


Esq.. was exhibited in the British Institution in the summer »f 
1852. It is engraved in the Etruria Pittrice. 


466 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


the body, Christ receives it into his keeping, stand. 
ing in person either beside her death-bed or above 
it. But in the Assumption properly so called, we 
have the moment wherein the soul of the Virgin 
1s reunited to her body, which, at the command of 
Christ, rises up from the tomb. Of all the themes 
of sacred art, there is not one more complete and 
beautiful than this, in what it represents, and in 
what it suggests. Earth and its sorrows, death ard 
the grave, are left below; and the pure spirit of the 
Mother again clothed in its unspotted tabernacle, 
surrounded by angelic harmonies, and sustained 
by wings of cherubim and seraphim, soars up- 
wards to meet her Son, and to be reunited to him 
forever. 


We must consider this fine subject under two as- 
pects. 

The first is purely ideal and devotional; it is 
simply the expression of a dogma of faith, “ As- 
sumpta est Maria Virgo in Calum.” ‘The figure of © 
the Virgin is seen within an almond-shaped aure- 
ole (the mandorla), not unfrequently crowned as 
well as veiled, her hands joined, her white robe fall- 
ing round her feet (for in all the early pictures the 
dress of the Virgin is white, often spangled with 
stars), and thus she seems to cleave the air up- 
wards, while adoring angels surround the glory of 
light within which she is enshrined. Such are the 
figures which are placed in sculpture over the por 
‘als of the churches dedicated to her, as at Flo» 


THE ASSUMPTION. 467 


mice.* She is not always standing and upright 
out seated on a throne, placed within an aureole of 
ight, and borne by angels, as over the door of the 
Campo Santo at Pisa. I am not sure that such 
figures are properly styled the Assumption ; they 
rather exhibit in an ideal form the glorification of 
the Virgin, another version of the same idea ex- 
pressed in the Jncoronata. She is here Varia Vir- 
go Assumpta, or, in Italian, L’ Assunta; she has 
taken upon her the glory of immortality, though 
not yet crowned. 

But when the Assumption is presented to us as 
the final scene of her life, and expresses, as it were, 
a progressive action — when she has left the empty 
tomb, and the wondering, weeping apostles on the 
earth below, and rises “ like the morning” (‘“ quasi 
aurora surgens”) from the night of the grave,— 
then we have the Assumption of the Virgin in its 
dramatic and historical form, the final act and con: 
summation of her visible and earthly life. As the 
Church had never settled in what manner she was 
translated into heaven, only pronouncing it heresy 
to doubt the fact itself, the field was in great measure 
left open to the artists. The tomb below, the fig- 
ure of the Virgin floating in mid-air, and the open- 
ing heavens above, such is the general conception 
fixed by the traditions of art; but to give some idea 
of the manner in which this has been varied, I shall 
describe a few examples. 

1 Giunta Pisano, 123). (Assisi, S. Franceso.) 

* The ‘“‘ Santa Maria del Fiore, — the Duomo. 


468 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


Christ and the Virgin ascend together in a seated 
attitude upborne by clouds and surrounded by 
angels; his arm is round her. The empty tomb, 
with the apostles and others, below. The idea is 
here taken from the Canticles (ch. viii.), “ Who is 
this that ariseth from the wilderness leaning upon 
her beloved ?” 

2. Andrea Orcagna, 1359. (Bas-relief, Or-San- 
Michele, Florence.) The Virgin Mary is seated 
on a rich throne within the Mandorla, which is 
borne upwards by four angels, while two are play- 
ing on musical instruments. Immediately below 
the Virgin, on the right, is the figure of St. 
Thomas, with hands outstretched, receiving the 
mystic girdle; below is the entombment; Mary 
lies extended on a pall above a sarcophagus. In 
the centre stands Christ, holding in his arms the 
emancipated soul; he is attended by eight angels. 
St. John is at the head of the Virgin, and near him 
an angel swings a censer; St. James bends and 
kisses her hand; St. Peter reads as usual; and the 
other apostles stand round, with Dionysius, Timo- 
thy, and Hierotheus, distinguished from the apos- 
tles by wearing turbans and caps. The whole 
most beautifully treated. 

I have been minutely exact in describing the 
details of this composition, because is will be useful 
as a key to many others of the early Tuscan school, 
both in sculptare and painting; for example, the 
fine bas-relief by Nanni over the south door of the 
Duomo at Florence, represents St. Thomas in the 


THE LEGEND OF THE GIRDLE. 469 


same manner kneeling outside the aureole and re- 
ceiving the girdle; but the entombment below is 
omitted. These sculptures were executed at the 
time when the enthusiasm for the Sacratissima 
~intola della Madonna prevailed throughout the 
leneth and breadth of Tuscany, and Prato hat 
become a place of pilgrimage. : 

This story of the Girdle was one of the legends 
unported from the East. It had certainly a Greek 
origin ;* and, according to the Greek formula, St. 
Thomas is to be figured apart in the clouds, on the 
right of the Virgin, and in the act of receiving the 
girdle. Such is the approved arrangement till the 
end of the fourteenth century ; afterwards we find 
St. Thomas placed below among the other apostles. 


THE LEGEND OF THE HOLY GIRDLE. 


An account of the Assumption would be imper- 
fect without some notice of the western legend, 
which relates the subsequent history of the Girdle, 
‘and its arrival in Italy, as represented in the fres- 
eoes of Agnolo Gaddi at Prato.t 

The chapel della Sacratissima Cintola was 
erected from the designs of Giovanni Pisano about 
1320. This “most sacred” relic had long been 


* It may be found in the Greek Menologiun, iii. p. 225 

+ Notizie istoriche intorno alla sacratissima Cintoladit Maria 
Vergine, che si conserva nella Citta di Prato dal Dottore Giw 
‘eppe Bianchini di Prato, 1795. 


470 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


teposited under the high altar of the principal 
thapel, and held in great veneration; but in the 
year 1312, a native of Prato, whose name was 
Musciatino, conceived the idea of carrying it off, 
and selling it in Florence. The attempt was dis- 
covered; the unhappy thief suffered a cruel death; 
and the people of Prato resolved to provide for 
the future custody of the precious relic a new and 
inviolable shrine. 

The chapel is in the form of a parallelogram, 
three sides of which are painted, the other being 
separated from the choir by a bronze gate of most 
exquisite workmanship, designed by Ghiberti, or, 
as others say, by Brunelleschi, and executed partly 
by Simone Donatello. 

On the wall, to the left as we enter, is a series 
of subjects from the Life of the Virgin, beginning, 
as usual, with the Rejection of Joachim from the 
temple, and ending with the Nativity of our Sav- 
iour. 

The end of the chapel is filled up by the As- 
sumption of the Virgin, the tomb being seen below, 
surrounded by the apostles; and above it the Vir- 
gin, as she floats into heaven, is in the act of 
loosening her girdle, which St. Thomas, devoutly 
kneeling, stretches out his arms to receive. Above 
this, a circular window exhibits, in stained glass. 
the Coronation of the Virgin, surrounded by g 
glory of angels. 

On the third wall to the right we have the subse ‘ 
quent History of the Girdle, in six compartmerts. 


THE LEGEND OF THE GIRDLE. 474 


St. ‘Thomas, on the eve of his departure to fulfil 
Ris mission as apostle in .he far East, intrusts the 
precious girdle to the care of one of his disciples, 
who receives it from his hands in an ecstasy of 
amazement and devotion. 

The deposit remains, for a thousand years, 
throuded from the eyes of the profane; and the 
next scene shows us the manner in which it 
reached the city of Prato. A certain Michael of 
the Dogomari family in Prato, joined, with a party 
of his young townsmen, the crusade in 1096. But, 
instead of returning to his native country after the 
war was over, this same Michael took up the trade 
of a merchant, travelling from land to land in pur- 
suit of gain, until he came to the city of Jerusalem, 
and lodged in the house of a Greek priest, to whom 
the custody of the sacred relic had descended from 
a long line of ancestry ; and this priest, according 
to the custom of the oriental church, was married, 
and had “one fair daughter, and no more, the 
which he loved passing well,” so well, that he had 
intrusted to her care the venerable girdle. Now 
it chanced that Michael, lodging in the same house, 
became enamoured of the maiden, and not being 
able to obtain the consent of her father to their 
marriage, he had recourse to the mother, who, 
moved by the tears and entreaties of the daughter, 
pot only permitted their union, but bestowed on 
ner the girdle as a dowry, and assisted the young 
evers in their flight. 

In accordance with ‘his story, we have, in the 


472 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


third compartment, the Marriage of Michael with 
the Eastern Maiden, and then the Voyage from 
the Holy Land to the Shores of Tuscany. On the 
deck of the vessel, and at the foot of the mast, is 
placed the casket containing the relic, to which the 
mariners attribute their prosperous voyage to the 
shores of Italy. Then Michael is seen disembark- 
mg at Pisa, and, with his casket reverently car 
ried in his hands, he reénters the paternal man 
sion in the city of Prato. 

Then we have a scene of wonder. Michael is 
extended on his bed in profound sleep. An angel 
at his head, and another at his feet, are about to 
uft him up; for, says the story, Michael was so 
jealous of his treasure, that not only he kindled a 
lamp every night in its honour, but, fearing he 
should be robbed of it, he placed it under his bed, 
which action, though suggested by his profound 
sense of its value, offended his guardian angels, 
who every night lifted him from his bed and placed 
him on the bare earth, which nightly infliction this 
pious man endured rather than risk the loss of his 
invaluable relic. But after some years Michael 
fell sick and died. 

In the last compartment we have the scene of 
his death. The bishop Uberto kneels at his side, 
and receives from him the sacred girdle, with a 
solemn injunction to preserve it in the cathedral 
church of the city, and to present it from time to 
ime for the veneration of the people, which in 
junction Uberto most piously fulfilled; and we see 


THE LEGEND OF THE GIRDLE. 473 


him carrying it, attended by priests bearing torch- 
es, in solemn procession to the chapel, in which it 
has ever since remained. 

Agnolo Gaddi was but a second-rate artist, even 
for his time, yet these frescoes, in spite of the fee- 
bleness and general inaccuracy of the drawing, are 
attractive from a certain naive grace; and the ro- 
mantic and curious details of the legend have lent 
them so much of interest, that, as Lord Lindsay 
says, “ when standing on the spot one really feels 
indisposed for criticism.” * 

The exact date of the frescoes executed by Ag. 
nolo Gaddi is not known, but, according to Vasan, 
he was called to Prato after 1348. An inscrip- 
tion in the chapel refers them to the year 1390, a 
date too late to be relied on. The story of Mi- 
chele di Prato I have never seen elsewhere; but 
just as the vicinity of Cologne, the shrine of the 
“Three Kings,” had rendered the Adoration of 
the Magi one of the popular themes in early Ger- 


* M. Rio is more poetical. ‘‘ Comme j’entendais raconter cette 
légende pour la premiére fois, il me semblait que le tableau ré- 
fiéchissait une partie de la poésie qu’elle renferme. Cet amour 
d@’outre mer mélé aux aventures chevaleresques d’une croisade, 
cette relique précieuse donnée pour dot 4 une pauvre fille, la 
dévotion des deux époux pour ce gage révéré de leur bonheur, 
leur départ clandestin, leur navigation prospére avec des dau- 
Pus.s gui leur font cortége 4 la surface des eaux, leur arrivée a 
Prato et les miracles répétés qui, joints 4 une maladie mortelle, 
arracéhrent enfin de la bouche du moribond une déclaration 
publique a la suite de laquelle la ceinture sacrée fut déposée dans 
va cathédrale, tout ce mélange de passion romanesque et de piété 
aaive, avait effacé pour moi les imperfections techniques qui au 
waient pu frapper une observateus de sang froid.” 


474 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


man and Flemish art; so the vicinity of Prato ren- 
dered the legend of St. Thomas a favourite theme 
of the Florentine school, and introduced it wher 
ever the influence of that school had extended. 
The fine fresco by Mainardi, in the Baroncelli 
Chapel, is an instance; and I must cite one yet 
finer, that by Ghirlandajo in the choir of S. Maria- 
Novella: in this last-mentioned example, the Vir- 
gin stands erect in star-bespangled drapery and 
closely veiled. 

We now proceed to other examples of the treat- 
meuc of the Assumption. 

5. Taddeo Bartoli, 1413. He has represented 
the moment in which the soul is reunited to the 
body. Clothed in a starry robe she appears in the 
very act and attitude of one rising up from a re- 
clining position, which is most beautifully express- 
ed, as if she were partly lifted up upon the ex- 
panded many-coloured wings of a cluster of angels, 
and partly drawn up, as it were, by the attractive 
power of Christ, who, floating above her, takes her 
clasped hands in both his. The intense, yet tender 
ecstasy in her face, the mild spiritual benignity in 
his, are quite indescribable, and fix the picture in 
the heart and the memory as one of the finest relig- 
ious conceptions extant. (Siena, Palazzo Publico.) 

I imagine this action of Christ taking her hands 
im both his, must be founded on some ancient 
Greek model, for I have seen the same motif in 
other pictures, German and Italian; but in none 
vo tenderly or so happily expressed. 


THE ASSUMPTION. 475 


4. Domenico di Bartolo, 1430. A large altar. 
piece. Mary seated on a throne, within a glory of 
encircling cherubim of a glowing red, and about 
thirty more angels, some adoring, others playing on 
musical instruments, is borne upwards. Her hands 
are joined in prayer, her head veiled and crowned, 
and she wears a white robe, embroidered with gold- 
en flowers. Above, in the opening heaven, is the 
figure of Christ, young and beardless (a V’antique), 
with outstretched arms, surrounded by the spirits 
of the blessed. Below, of a diminutive size, as if 
seen from a distant height, is the tomb surrounded 
by the apostles, St. Thomas holding the girdle. 
This is one of the most remarkable and important 
pictures of the Siena school, out of Siena, with 
which I am acquainted. (Berlin Gal., 1122.) 

5. Ghirlandajo, 1475. The Virgin stands m 
star-spangled drapery, with a long white veil, and 
hands joined, as she floats upwards. She is sus- 
tained by four seraphim. (Florence, S. Maria-No- 
vella.) 

6. Raphael, 1516. The Virgin is seated within 
the horns of a crescent moon, her hands joined. 
On each side an angel stands bearing a flaming 
torch ; the empty tomb and the eleven apostles be- 
low. This composition is engraved after Raphael 
by an anonymous master (Le Maitre au dé). It is 
majestic and graceful, but peculiar for the time. 
The two angels, or rather genii, bearing torches on 
each side, impart to the whole something of the air 
ef a heathen apotheosis. 


‘ 


476 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


7 Albert Durer. The apostles kneel or stand 
round the empty tomb; while Mary, soaring up- 
wards, is received into heaven by her Son; an an- 
gel on each side. 

8. Gaudenzio Ferrari, 1525. Mary, in a white 
robe spangled with stars, rises upwards as if cleav- 
ing the air in an erect position, with her hands ex- 
tended, but not raised, and a beautiful expression 
of mild rapture, as if uttering the words attributed 
to her, “‘ My heart is ready ;” many angels, some 
of whom bear tapers, around her. One angel pre- 
sents the end of the girdle to St. Thomas; the 
other apostles and the empty tomb lower down. 
(Vercelli, S. Cristoforo.) 

9. Correggio. Cupola of the Duomo at Parma, 
1530. This is, perhaps, one of the earliest instances 
of the Assumption applied as a grand piece of sce- 
nic decoration ; at all events we have nothing in 
this luxuriant composition of the solemn simplicity 
of the older conception. In the highest part of the 
Cupola, where the strongest light falls, Christ, a vi- 
olently foreshortened figure, precipitates himself 
downwards to meet the ascending Madonna, who, 
reclining amid clouds, and surrounded by an innu- 
merable company of angels, extends her arms tow- 
ards him. One glow of heavenly rapture is dif 
‘used over all; but the scene is vast, confused 
almost tumultuous. Below, all round the dome, ae 
if standing on a balcony, appear the apostles. 

10. Titian, 1540 (about). In the Assumption at 
Venie, a picture of world-wide celebrity, and, in 


THE ASSUMPTION. 47? 


its way, of unequalled beauty, we have another sig- 
nal departure from all the old traditions. The no- 
ble figure of the Virgin in a flood. of golden light is 
borne, or rather impelled, upwards with such ra- 
pidity, that her veil and drapery are disturbed by 
the motion. Her feet are uncovered, a circum- 
stance inadmissible in ancientart; and her dra- 
pery, instead of being white, is of the usual blue and 
erimson, her appropriate colours in life. Her atti- 
tude, with outspread arms — her face, not indeed 
a young or lovely face, but something far better, 
sublime and powerful in the expression of rapture 
— the divinely beautiful and childish, yet devout, 
unearthly little angels around her — the grand apos- 
tles below — and the splendour of colour over all 
— render this picture an enchantment at once to 
the senses and the imagination ; to me the effect 
was like music. 

11. Palma Vecchio, 1535. (Venice Acad.) 
The Virgin looks down, not upwards, as is usu- 
al, and is in the act of taking off her girdle to be- 
stow it on St. Thomas, who, with ten other apos- 
tles, stands below. 

12. Annibale Caracci, 1600. (Bologna Gal.) 
The Virgin amid a crowd of youthful angels, and 
sustained by clouds, is placed across the picture 
with extended arms. Below is the tomb (of sculp- 
tured marble) and eleven apostles, one of whom 
with an astonished air, lifts from the sepulchre a 
handful of roses. There is another picture won- 
derfully fine in the same style by Agostino Ca 

3] 


478 LEGENDS GF THE MADONNA. 


racci. This fashion of varying the attitude of the 
Virgin was carried in the ater schools to every ex- 
vess of affectation. Ina picture by Lanfranco, she 
cleaves ‘the air like a swimmer, which is detesta- 
ble. 

13. Rubens painted at least twelve Assumptions 
with characteristic verve and movement. Some of 
these, if not very solemn or poetical, convey very 
happily the idea of a renovated life. The largest 
and most splendid as a scenic composition is in the 
Musée at Brussels. More beautiful, and, indeed, 
quite unusually poetical for Rubens, is the smali 
Assumption in the Queen’s Gallery, a finished 
sketch for the larger picture. ‘The majestic Vir- 
gin, arrayed in white and blue drapery, rises with 
outstretched arms, surrounded by a choir of angels; 
below, the apostles and the women either follow 
with upward gaze the soaring ecstatic figure, or 
look with surprise at the flowers which spring with- 
in the empty tomb. 

In another Assumption by Rubens, one of the 
women exhibits the miraculous flowers in her 
apron, or in a cloth, I forget which; but the whole 
conception, like too many of his religious subjects, 
borders on the vulgar and familiar. 

14. Guido, as it is well known, excelled in this 
fine subject, —1 mean, according to the taste ana 
manner of his time and school. His ascending 
Madonnas have a sort of aérial elegance, which 1s 
very attractive ; but they are too nymph-like. We 
must be careful to distinguish in his pictures (and 


THE ASSUMPTION. 47$ 


all similar pictures painted after 1615) between 
the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception ; 
it is a difference in sentiment which I have al- 
ready pointed out. The small finished sketch by 
Guido in our National Gallery is an Assumption 
and Coronation together: the Madonna is received 
into heaven as Regina Angelorum. ‘The fine 
large Assumption in the Munich Gallery may be 
regarded as the best example of Guido’s manner 
of treating this theme. His picture in the Bridge- 
water Gallery, often styled an Assumption, is an 
Immaculate Conception. 

The same observations would apply to Poussin, 
with, however, more of majesty. His Virgins are 
usually seated or reclining, and in general we 
have a fine landscape beneath. 


The Assumption, like the Annunciation, the Na- 
tivity, and other historical themes, may, through 
ideal accessories, assume a purely devotional form. 
It ceases then to bea fact or an event, and becomes 
a vision or a mystery, adored by votaries, to which 
attendant saints bear witness. Of this style of 
treatment there are many beautiful examples. 

1. Early Florentine, about 1450. (Coll. of Ful- 
ler Maitland, Esq.) The Virgin, seated, elegantly 
draped in white, and with pale-blue ornaments in 
her hair, rises within a glory sustained by six an- 
gels; below is the tomb full of flowers, and in 
front, kneeling, St. Francis and St. Jerome. 

2. Ambrogio Borgognone, 1500. (Milan, Brera; 


480 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. 


She stands, floating upwards in a fine attitude 
two angels crown her; others sustain her; others 
sound their trumpets. Below are the apostles and 
empty tomb; at each side, St. Ambrose and St 
Augustine ; behind them, St. Cosimo and St. Da- 
mian; the introduction of these saintly apotheca- 
ries stamps the picture as an ex-voto— perhaps 
against the plague. It is very fine, expressive, 
and curious. 

3. F. Granacci, 1530.* The Virgin, ascending 
in glory, presents her girdle to St. Thomas, who 
kneels; on each side, standing as witnesses, St. 
John the Baptist, as patron of Florence, St. Lau- 
rence, as patron of Lorenzo de’ Medici, and the 
two apostles, St. Bartholomew and St. James. 

4. Andrea del Sarto, 1520. (Florence, Pitt 
Pal.) She is seated amid vapoury clouds, arrayed 
in white: on each side adoring angels; below, the 
tomb with the apostles, a fine solemn group; and 
in front, St. Nicholas, and that interesting penitent 
saint, St. Margaret of Cortona. (Legends of the 
Monastic Orders.) The head of the Virgin is the 
likeness of Andrea’s infamous wife; otherwise this 
is a magnificent picture. 


THE CorRONATION of the Virgin follows the 
Assumption. In some instances, this final consum- 
mation of her glorious destiny supersedes, or rather 
includes, her ascension into heaven. 

® Im the Casa Ruccellai.(?) Engraved in the Etruria Pittrice 


THE CORONATION. 48: 


As I have already observed, it is necessary tc 
distinguish this scenic Coronation from the mysti- 
cal INcoRONATA, properly so called, which is the 
triumph of the allegorical church, and altogether 
an allegorical and devotional theme; whereas, the 
scenic Coronation is the last event in a series of 
the Life of the Virgin. Here we have before us, 
not merely the court of heaven, its argent fields 
peopled with celestial spirits, and the sublime per- 
sonification of the glorified Church exhibited as a 
vision, and quite apart from all real, all human 
associations; but we have rather the triumph of 
the human mother ;— the lowly woman lifted into 
immortality. The earth and its sepulchre, the 
bearded apostles beneath, show us that, like her 
Son, she has ascended into glory by the dim portal 
of the grave, and entered into felicity by the path 
of pain. Her Son, next to whom she has taken 
her seat, has himsef wiped the tears from her eyes, 
and set the resplendent crown upon her head; the 
Father blesses her; the Holy Spirit bears witness ; 
ch2rubim and seraphim welcome her, and salute 
her as their queen. So Dante,— 


“ At their joy 
And carol smiles the Lovely One of heaven, 
That joy is in the eyes of all the blest.” 


Thus, then, we must distinguish : — 

1. The Coronation of the Virgin is a strictly de- 
votional subject where she is attended, not merely 
by angels and patriarchs, but by canonized sainta 


432 LEGENDS OF rHE MALONNA. 


and martyrs, by fathers and doctors of the Church, 
heads of religious orders in monkish dresses, patrons 
and votaries. 

2. It is a dramatic and historical subject when it 
is the last scene in a series of the Life of the Vir- 
gin; when the death-bed, or the tomb, or the won- 
dering apostles, and weeping women, are figured on 
the earth below. 

Of the former treatment, I have spoken at 
length. It is that most commonly met with in 
early pictures and altar-pieces. 

With regard to the historical treatment, it is 
more rare as a separate subject, but there are some 
celebrated examples both in church decoration 
and in pictures. 

1. In the apsis of the Duomo at Spoleto, we have, 
below, the death of the Virgin in the usual man- 
ner, that is, the Byzantine conception treated in 
the Italian style, with Christ receiving her soul, and 
over it the Coronation. ‘The Virgin kneels in a 
white robe, spangled with golden flowers; and 
Christ, who is here represented rather as the 
Father than the Son, crowns her as queen of 
heaven. 

2. The composition by Albert Durer, which con- 
cludes his fine series of wood-cuts, the “ Life of the 
' Virgin” is very grand and singular. On the earth 
is the empty tomb; near it the bier; around stand 
the twelve apostles, all looking up amazed. There 
is no allusion to the girdle, which, indeed, is sel- 
dom found in northern art. Above, the Virgin 


THE CORONATION. 488 


floating in the air, with the rainbow under her feet, 
is crowned by the Father and the Son, while over 
her head hovers the holy Dove. 

3. In the Vatican is the Coronation attributed to 
Raphael. ‘That he designed the cartoon, and be- 
yan the altar-piece, for the nuns of Monte-Luce 
near Perugia, seems beyond all doubt; but it is 
equally certain that the picture as we see it was 
painted almost entirely by his pupils Giulo Romano 
and Gian Francesco Penni. Here we have the tomb 
below, filled with flowers; and around it the twelve 
apostles ; John and his brother James, in front, look- 
ing up; behind John, St. Peter; more in the back- 
ground, St. Thomas holds the girdle. Above is the 
throne set in heaven, whereon the Virgin, mild and 
beautiful, sits beside her divine Son, and with 
joined hands, and veiled head, and eyes meekly cast 
down, bends to receive the golden coronet he is 
about to place on her brow. ‘The Dove is omitted, 
but eight seraphim, with rainbow-tinted wings, 
hover above her head. On the right, a most grace- 
ful angel strikes the tambourine; on the left, an- 
other, equally graceful, sounds the viol; and, 
amidst a flood of light, hosts of celestial and re- 
joicing spirits fill up the background. 

Thus, in highest heaven, yet not out of sight 
of earth, in beatitude past utterance, in blessed 
fruition of all that faith creates and love desirea, 
amid angel hymns and starry glories, ends the pre 
ured life of Mary, Morner or ovr Lorp. 


THE END. 


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